The Cyprus problem, the bilateral and trilateral cooperation of Cyprus with other countries in its region and energy issues were examined at a roundtable discussion that took place in the framework of the 19th World Conference of the overseas Cypriots in Nicosia.
The roundtable discussion was addressed by the British High Commissioner to Cyprus, Mathew Kidd, US ambassador Kathleen Doherty, Israeli ambassador Yael Ravia-Zadok and Greece’s Deputy Ambassador.
Referring to the Cyprus talks and particularly the chapter of security, Britain’s High Commissioner Matthew Kidd noted that “the point of the discussions in Crans Montana was to look at how to update that system from 1960 to make it effective security concerns”, stressing that “UK’s position in that discussion was very clear: that we did not think that a military response was the right best way of addressing the concerns that the two communities currently have. What the aim was, there was to try to design together a mechanism that would provide reassurances that matched today’s concerns for both communities. No, a military response is not likely to be a good way of addressing security concerns today,” he said.
In Crans Montana, he said, “it was the first time when the two sides and the three guarantor powers spent significant time together looking at what the future of security and guarantees in a reunited Cyprus would look like and that exposure to each other in itself has changed the atmosphere, the network of relationships within which future work will have to be conducted, in a really important way”.
Replying to a question, the High Commissioner rejected that UK’s government tried to force the Cyprus government to accept free movement of Turkish citizens in Cyprus, during the talks in Switzerland.
In his initial intervention he noted that his country has an important role to play and added that as the guarantor powers became directly involved in the settlement process this year, “it has become possible for us in this last year to play the kind of role that we want to in a more active way that has been previously possible”.
Kidd stressed that Britain’s role “is to support, not to lead, not to impose” and noted that only the two leaders have the responsibility to recommend to their people that an agreement is good enough.
US Ambassador to Cyprus, Kathleen Doherty said that during the talks there was a lot of disagreements in many different elements.
She noted that during the last year of the talks maps were exchanged on the topic of territory for the first time and also it was the first time the guarantor powers participated.
Ambassador Doherty said that the US continues to talk about Cyprus with the EU, London, Athens, Ankara and to raise the importance of Cyprus and of a potential solution here. “We still very much believe in a bizonal bicommunal federation as a US Government and we hope that in some way we can get the talks back on track” she said.
She underlined that it’s up to the Cypriots to decide what the next steps are and noted the continuity in Obama and Trump administrations’ engagement in Cyprus.
On energy matters she expressed her country’s contentment over the fact that Exxon Mobil has been licensed to conduct explorations in the Cypriot EEZ. “We hope there is a significant find here of gas, Exxon Mobil’s block is the one that is closest to the Zhor field in Egypt” she noted, reiterating that “Cyprus has the right to develop and exploit its EEZ”.
She also said that the US is pleased with seeing the increase of the trilateral cooperation among countries of the region. “It’s good for the region, the democratic regimes here and the economic opportunities” Doherty underlined.
Yael Ravia-Zadok, the Ambassador of Israel to Cyprus, stressed that Israeli-Cypriot relations are as good as never before, adding that “with the bilateral growth and intensifying of relations we also enjoy to follow the establishment of the trilateral cooperation that is far beyond statements and declarations”.
The Israeli ambassador said that for her country the trilateral cooperation with Cyprus and Greece “is a tremendous important framework”, noting that there is a lot of fertile ground for cooperation.
“There is a list of areas of cooperation that are translated to technical meetings, that we already held and are being planned to be held in order to develop this platform” she said.
Referring to bilateral relations, she stressed the commitment of both the leaders of Israel and Cyprus “that invested a lot in solidifying this cooperation”.
The challenge, the ambassador said, “is to build a multi-dimensional deep relationship, that is solid, long-standing, whether bilaterally or trilaterally”.
Greece’s Deputy Ambassador said that with the trilateral cooperation “our objective is to make this area a sea of prosperity, a sea of development, a sea of regional cooperation”.
“It’s a train that we have all embarked on” he noted, adding that “we have set a course to the future and is going very well, the cooperation is being intensified, solidified and you can already see important results at the highest level in all our countries”.