Cyprus PIO: News Update in English, 02-10-04

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From: The Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office Server at <http://www.pio.gov.cy/>

Friday, 4 October 2002

CONTENTS

• [01] President Clerides meets with UN Chief in New York
• [02] UN Secretary-General's statements on Cyprus direct talks
• [03] Cyprus Foreign Minister: good will by both sides is necessary
• [04] Weston and de Soto's statements on meetings with Denktash
• [05] Verheugen: no enlargement without Cyprus is possible
• [06] Danish PM: optimistic that a united Cyprus will join EU

[01] President Clerides meets with UN Chief in New York

President Clerides, who is accompanied by the Undersecretary to the President Mr. Pantelis Kouros, the Attorney General Mr. Alecos Markides, the Government Spokesman Mr. Michalis Papapetrou and Ambassador Andreas Mavroyiannis, met with Mr. Annan at noon, local time. Half an hour later, at 12:30 pm, the UN Chief met with the Turkish Cypriot leader Mr. Rauf Denktash, and at 1:15 pm he hosted a working lunch for the two men. Prior to the meetings with the Secretary-General, both President Clerides and Mr. Denktash had separate meetings with Mr. Annan's special adviser on Cyprus, Mr. Alvaro de Soto.

The lunch was followed by an afternoon joint meeting between Mr. Annan, President Clerides and Mr. Denktash, which started at 3:00 pm and lasted approximately one hour and 20 minutes. Present at the meeting, besides the three men and Mr. Clerides and Denktash's aides, were Mr. Alvaro de Soto and the UN Under Secretary for political affairs, Sir Kieran Prendergast.

At the afternoon meeting, it was decided that President Clerides and Mr. Denktash have a joint meeting today at 10:00 am local time with Mr. de Soto and that they meet again with the Secretary-General at 3:00 pm.

It must be mentioned that no statements were made after yesterday's meetings with Mr. Annan, except from one sentence by Mr. Dektash who proclaimed that "If Cyprus enters EU as a member, talks are ended and Cyprus is divided forever."

Moreover, at a daily press briefing in Washington DC yesterday, the US State Department Spokesman, Mr. Richard Boucher, referring to the talks on Cyprus currently underway in New York, made the following statement:

"The United States strongly supports the UN Secretary-General's Good Offices Mission in Cyprus. We do hope that the two leaders will seize this historic opportunity to try to reach a Cyprus settlement this year".

[02] UN Secretary-General's statements on Cyprus direct talks

Asked whether the talks would continue if Cyprus joined the European Union, Mr. Annan stated the following:

"We are going to try and do as much as we can to come to an understanding and bring the talks to closure, at least come to agreement on the core issues by the end of the year. That is the target. If we miss that, obviously we will have to find ways of bringing it to closure beyond that date. But I hope we can do it before the end of the year."

Invited to say whether he planned to bring up in the talks a new element or tactic to move the process forward, he noted that "they may have some tactics and surprises for me."

[03] Cyprus Foreign Minister: good will by both sides is necessary

Invited to comment on the main problems that are holding up the talks, Mr. Kasoulides noted that the most important one is the contrasting view of the two sides as regards the issue of sovereignty, adding: "are we talking about one state of Cyprus or are we talking about two states of Cyprus? This is the main question".

Asked, by a Turkish Cypriot journalist, to describe what a fair solution to the Cyprus problem would be, the Cyprus Minister said it had to be one that addressed the concerns of both Greek and Turkish Cypriots, but in order for these concerns to be addressed "we shall have to see the future as common for every Cypriot".

Finally, Mr. Kasoulides noted that a solution by the end of this year was possible as long as there was political will from both sides.

[04] Weston and de Soto's statements on meetings with Denktash

Speaking to the press after his meeting with the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mr. Weston expressed his satisfaction that Mr. Denktash was doing very well. Invited to say whether he had made any suggestions regarding the solution of the Cyprus problem, the US official replied that he could not go into detail about the content of their meeting but it had been his impression that Mr. Denktash was looking forward to the talks.

On his part, Mr. de Soto remarked that the Turkish Cypriot leader seemed in good health. With regard to an earlier statement by the Secretary-General that the two sides could reach an agreement by the end of the year, Mr. de Soto said he hoped that could be achieved.

[05] Verheugen: no enlargement without Cyprus is possible

After having assessed the level of preparation attained by the candidate countries for accession to the EU, in the context of the acquis communautaire, the EU Commissioners taking part in the meeting concluded that Cyprus is the most well prepared country in the process.

In relation to which candidate countries would be able to complete the accession process by the end of this year, the EU Commission's stand on Cyprus was very positive, expressing the belief that Cyprus is expected to complete the process successfully.

On the contrary, there was a negative sentiment concerning the case of Turkey. During the meeting, it was stated that in case a date was given to Turkey to start the accession negotiations, as a result of political pressures, that would be an illusion since Turkey was not able to respond to its EU obligations.

Responding to a colleague's scepticism about the EU candidacy of Cyprus in relation to the Cyprus problem, Mr. Verheugen expressed the opinion that "if any country is to become a member of the EU now, that is Cyprus".

[06] Danish PM: optimistic that a united Cyprus will join EU

Speaking about the challenges ahead regarding the EU enlargement, Mr. Rasmussen mentioned - at the top of his list, before the EU-Turkish relations and the Irish referendum - the Cyprus issue, adding though that "there are still negotiations between the two parties within the ambit of the UN. I am an optimist. I hope that it will be a united Cyprus, which we admit in December."

The Danish PM underlined the importance of EU enlargement, which is "a fantastic historic opportunity and a decisive historical obligation" and added that the cost of enlargement should not appear as an obstacle and that "it is a small price to pay for a united Europe".

Referring to EU-Turkish relations, Mr. Rasmussen welcomed the will of the Turkish Government for reforms and stated that it was in the interest of Europe to strengthen the pro-western forces in Turkey.

He also consented to the opinion outlined by an Austrian newspaper, that the European Council Summit in Copenhagen would probably be one of the most difficult in the history of the EU, and pointed out that "the enlargement is such an important assignment, that it has to succeed".

From the Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office (PIO) Server at http://www.pio.gov.cy/

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