The UK Minister for Europe David Lidington has updated members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Cyprus on the results of his recent visit to the island.
After a closed meeting on Monday evening, Lidington said the British government were still hopeful that there would be serious progress on the settlement talks. “When I was in the island two weeks ago leaders of both communities told me they were committed to trying to reach a peace settlement. There is intense diplomatic work going on to try to solve the current standoff over drilling for gas in the EEZ. If that can be sorted, then I think settlement talks can resume rapidly with the New Year,” said the minister.
He stressed that the message of the government is that this is the EEZ of Cyprus, as is the case under the UN Law of the Sea, and that Cyprus has every right to develop those resources. “And we also say every community ought to benefit from whatever oil and gas resources are discovered there. It is for the Cypriot leaders to find a way forward now and the UN special envoy Espen Eide is doing his best to help work towards such an agreement. The sooner this happens the better; then we can get back, I hope, to talks focused upon on the final peace settlement which is so much in the interest of every Cypriot community,” said Mr Lidington.
He also made special reference to “a very good discussion” with the Foreign Minister of Cyprus about bilateral relations which are “stronger than ever”, about how the two countries are working together to counter the threat of extremism and terrorism which is a menace to both. He added that he also raised with the Cypriot government the issue of property owned by British citizens in Cyprus and the problems that some of these people are facing.
In a message to Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades, he said: “My friend, you are in good hands; please get well soon, make a full recovery over Christmas and we look forward to working with you again in the New Year.”
The Vice-Chairman of the APPG David Burrowes, who chaired the meeting, said that the minister had made very clear that in terms of the particular issue in relation to the encroachment on the Cyprus EEZ that Britain lies full square behind the rule of law, supporting the Republic of Cyprus’ every right to be able to exploit the hydrocarbons. “He made that very clear. It is also very encouraging that there are active steps being taken – some have to be said publicly, others privately. But that doesn’t in any way go against respecting the full sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus,” added the Conservative North London MP.
Burrowes also said that they discussed the great progress that President Anastasiades’ government has made in relation to dealing with the economic problems and that the UK government is there, willing to lend a hand of support. In terms of the message the APPG members gave to the minister, it was that the UK has a very important responsibility: “We, as the guarantors of the independence of Cyprus, need to make sure that we have a pre-emptive role to make sure that when these issues appear we are there standing shoulder to shoulder with Cyprus doing what we can to support a solution.”
The APPG Chairman Matthew Offord made a special reference to the “great relationship” the Minister of Europe has with the government of Cyprus. “He has worked in that role longer now than many other ministers have done previously and he really has an understanding of the issues involved. I look forward to the New Year when he will continue to work with many different players, including many people in the British government, and the House of Commons and indeed the House of Lords to ensure that Cyprus one day gets the peace that it so desperately wants,” said the North London MP for the Conservative Party.
Burrowes also sent out a message to the Cypriot community in the UK: “This is the time to really impress upon politicians to really stand up and support Cyprus. So I encourage all the community members to make sure that they are getting hold of their MPs to say they need to speak out for Cyprus. We are doing as much as we can but we need the whole community to say that this is the time and place for real justice for Cyprus.”
The latest round of UN-led peace talks to reunite Cyprus, divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion, was suspended last month by Anastasiades in response to the presence of a Turkish research vessel, Barbaros, in Cyprus` exclusive economic zone. Calls for her withdrawal from the EEZ have gone unheeded.