Cyprus has a long way to go to implement the European Union values enshrined in Article 1-2 of the EU Constitution, said Vice-President of the opposition DISY party Katy Clerides, speaking at a panel discussion organised by the Economist magazine last Thursday.
Article 1-2 of the constitution refers to common values of “a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail”.
However, Clerides said that this needed to be “transformed into a reality”.
As someone how had tried to play the role of a peace activist in Cyprus, Clerides said that she had “been often discouraged”.
Although the accession of Cyprus into the EU had led to “a decline in our nationalistic political discourse”, she said that just how difficult it is to try to practise these values was made evident during the referendum campaign last year.
“Recent examples of how easy it is for fanaticism to become the order of the day, if given the appropriate conditions, was evident so far as I was concerned last year during the discussion of the Annan Plan,” she said.
“In the period during and after the referendum, those of us who voted yes were definitely given to understand, both by politicians and by the media, that our decision amounted to capitulation and was unpatriotic.”
Clerides said that value such as tolerance and pluralism are therefore particularly relevant to Cyprus given its history of ethnic conflict.
“Cyprus has quite a long way to go,” she said, adding that “it takes work and political will and continual self-examination at the society to see whether the guiding principles of which the EU is made are actually transformed into a reality in our specific society. This is true for all societies.”
Clerides, who was also asked to speak about the social policy of the EU constitution, welcomed its commitment to solidarity, equality between women and men and its goal of playing a role in the wider world.
“The Constitution makes it clear that the EU is not a closed shop…it is also interested in the rest of the world,” she said.
