The European Commission approved today a new financial assistance of €27.2 million for the Turkish Cypriot community in order to promote the economic integration of the island and help prepare for its reunification. The provided funds will be used in a variety of sectors such as eradication of animal diseases, protection of the environment, road safety, cultural heritage and civil society, while students, teachers and NGOs will also benefit from this programme.
As Štefan Füle, EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, stated: “This new funding reflects the firm commitment of the European Union to the economic integration of the Turkish Cypriot community; through dialogue and mutual enrichment between the two communities we are continuing the support for the future reunification of the island”.
Up to date, EU has provided the Aid Programme for the Turkish Cypriot community with more than €320 million with the purpose of bringing Turkish Cypriots closer to the EU. In specific, EU has contributed to the on-going peace process by financing the opening of the last two Green Line crossing points at Limnitis/Yeşilırmak (in October 2010) and Ledra/Lokmacı Street (in February 2009), contributing €11.5 million in order to enable the demining of the buffer zone, being the biggest donor to the activities of the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) with an overall contribution of € 7.5 million and finally, by supporting the construction of a new bi-communal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) for the whole of Nicosia.