The pro-Cypriot north London Conservative MP Theresa Villiers has spoken on the eve of the UN-led informal meeting to take place April 27-29, in Geneva, on Cyprus, expressing her hope that the meeting will provide “new hope for a negotiated settlement and reunification of Cyprus”.
The ‘five plus one’ informal talks on Cyprus include the two sides in Cyprus and representatives from Greece, Turkey and the UK, as the three guarantor powers.
The meeting is being hosted by the UN with a view to establishing whether there is sufficient common ground for formal negotiations to start again to try to reach a settlement in Cyprus.
“Any settlement must be based on longstanding accepted principles, namely a bizonal, bicommunal, federal state, with a single citizenship and a single international personality. Any attempt to formulate a looser confederal arrangement would see permanent division of the island and would never be acceptable,” Villiers stressed.
She also noted the need for third country guarantees to be “scrapped”, commenting that they date back to the colonial era and are “entirely inappropriate” for a modern European democracy like Cyprus. “The Foreign Secretary should call on his counterpart in Turkey to withdraw any claim to a continuing guarantee, or any right to take military intervention,” she added.
She welcomed the assurance that Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will attend the Geneva talks and urged him to provide every support and encouragement to the two sides, in their efforts to resolve this dispute and reach an agreement.
Theresa Villiers also pointed to the answers she received from Europe Minister Wendy Morton to her recent urgent Parliamentary Questions on the Geneva talks.
The Foreign Minister said that a Cyprus Settlement would be in the best interests of the Cypriot communities, the wider region and the UK, confirming Mr Raab’s attendance.
She added that the UK will continue to actively support the UN Secretary-General in his efforts and she pointed to the Foreign Secretary’s recent meetings and talks on Cyprus with all parties involved.
“The UK is urging all sides to approach the UN talks in a spirit of flexibility and compromise. During my visit to Cyprus (7-9 April), I reiterated this message and the UK`s support for a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Cyprus issue,” Europe Minister Morton added in her answers to Theresa Villiers.