The UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has described the internationally accepted model of a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation as “a starting point” for a settlement to the Cyprus issue, urging “flexibility and pragmatism”.
He was responding in the House of Commons on Tuesday to a question by Labour MP Bambos Charalambous, who had asked the Foreign Secretary to confirm the British government’s commitment to a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation as “the only basis” for a political settlement on the island of Cyprus, ahead of next months UN-sponsored 5-plus-1 talks in Geneva.
Raab said that he was out in Cyprus recently, where he spoke to President Anastasiades and to the Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar.
Referring to the bi-zonal, bi-communal federation, he commented that “of course that is the starting point”.
He then added: “The most important thing we need to see right now is for both sides to go to those UN 5-plus-1 talks without preconditions, so we can re-engage in the kind of flexibility and pragmatism that can see lasting and enduring peace for the whole of Cyprus.”
Despite some confusion caused about whether the UK support for the bi-zonal, bi-communal federation has waned, two British government sources reiterated to the Cyprus News Agency that the British position remains the same, namely that the UK is a “strong supporter” of a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Cyprus issue, “based on the internationally accepted model of a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation”.
This position was also confirmed by Foreign Minister Lord Ahmad in a written answer to a House of Lords question on 12th February.
