A meeting between the President of the European Commission, the President of the European Council and the President of Turkey, on Tuesday, was not meant to settle any of the issues that were being discussed, but simply to convey the message of the 27 EU member states to Recep Tayyip Erdogan personally, the chief spokesperson of the European Commission, Eric Mamer, told CNA.
“I don`t think that yesterday`s meeting was meant to settle any of the issues that were being discussed. It was to ensure that the Turkish President heard directly from the European side what are the requests and the expectations of the European Union on a series of subjects. These subjects were then explained in the subsequent Press Conference. There will be a time for us to assess whether Turkey has taken these requests into account and it will be next European Council in June” said Eric Mamer when asked by CNA, during the European Commission’s daily midday briefing, if there is now a clear indication from Turkey about the Union’s participation in the forthcoming 5+1 informal Conference on Cyprus, in Geneva
On the same issue, Nabila Massrali, the European External Action Service (EEAS) spokesperson told CNA that “the EU stands ready to provide whatever assistance both leaders and the UN would find most useful. The Cyprus problem is clearly an EU problem: Cyprus is a member state of the Union, now and after reunification; regional stability and prosperity in the Eastern Mediterranean is closely bound to a solution to the Cyprus problem.”
“A future settlement needs in particular to comply with the EU acquis and safeguards, the integrity and decision-making responsibilities and processes of the EU” she added.
Massrali also said that “the EU is an observer to the formal Conference on Cyprus. For above-mentioned reasons, the sooner the EU becomes fully involved in the renewed settlement talks, the better.”
Asked about a possible invitation by the UN, the EEAS Spokesperson replied that “invitations to the Geneva meeting are issued by the UN Secretary-General; The EU is an observer to the formal Conference on Cyprus. The EU has a Delegation in Geneva so de facto we are in Geneva.”
Yesterday, the President of the European Commission said after the meeting in Ankara that “the European Union will never hesitate to point out further negative developments. This is also true for unilateral action against EU Member States like Greece or Cyprus.” From his part, the President of the European Council said that the EU remains committed to the relaunch of settlement talks for Cyprus. “As an active observer, the EU fully supports the UN-led process and we look forward to the informal meeting that will be held in a few weeks time” he added.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively. The UN Secretary-General invited all parties involved to attend an informal five-plus-one meeting on the Cyprus issue in Geneva, Switzerland, from 27 to 29 April 2021.
In a statement, in late March, the members of the European Council welcomed the forthcoming talks on the Cyprus problem under the auspices of the United Nations and reiterated their commitment to a comprehensive settlement in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, notably 550, 789, 1251.