Cyprus, in its capacity as a European Union member, seems to have gained some leverage for the first time against Turkey, which occupies the country’s northern part, Cyprus’ Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Andreas Mavroyiannis has said.
Speaking on ”Addressing the Cyprus Question Today: New Content for the Choice of Multilateralism”, at an event in New York, organised by the Hellenic American Bankers’ Association on Tuesday, Mavroyiannis said ”effective multilateralism is an important component of the common security strategy of the EU and the core thought of the European approach to international relations and for the EU, multilateralism constitutes a matter of principle, a nonnegotiable starting point.”
Mavroyiannis noted that the promotion of these common values and the search for multilateral solutions to common problems is one of the EU aims and that Cyprus, as a member state, can and must contribute towards promoting these aims, which are of great significance for the EU and of vital importance for Cyprus.
He pointed out that with the introduction of the Euro in January 2008, Cyprus will be entering a new period, and expressed hope that ”this development will facilitate the economic aspect of the future settlement of the Cyprus problem and that it will eliminate paradoxical requests of the past for keeping the economies and currencies of the island’s two communities separate.”
The Ambassador said that ”our primary objective is to permanently leave behind us the dependency of Cyprus on the spin of countries more powerful than itself and to create an undeniable reality, or rather open the eyes of people to whatever Cyprus is, instead of the projection of how others want Cyprus to be perceived.”
”But this new reality is not an image devoid of substance. It is something we have to build within our society. We must embrace European habits in order to project the perception that Cyprus is firmly European,” he said.
All of this, he continued, ”is not unrelated to the Cyprus problem, since the evolution of Cyprus will make it difficult for others to envisage archaic social, economic and political models as applicable in the case of Cyprus and what will prevail will be a settlement constructed on the strength of the citizen, his individual freedoms and a balance between his rights and obligations, without the setting of artificial boundaries or the need to conform to bureaucratic rules that destroy the human spirit.”
The Ambassador noted that as an EU member, Cyprus has ”an enhanced position as it participates on an equal footing with its 26 partners in formulating and promoting the Union’s foreign policy and has a saying in every decision being taken, big or small,” adding that it finds itself ”as a decision maker, in the same camp with some key players involved in the solution of the Cyprus problem” and ”for the first time, seems to have gained some real leverage against the occupying power, Turkey.”
”Our commitment to multilateral cooperation and to the UN as the key component of the multilateral system will determine whether and how an institution created in the aftermath of the World War II can continue to function within the international system based on its founding principles of international law and the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms,” he added.
Mavroyiannis pointed out that Cyprus makes every effort to make a significant contribution to the UN activities, from development policy and peacemaking to humanitarian assistance, environment, human rights and culture, throughout the world.
”Effective multilateralism is consubstantial to Cyprus vision of foreign policy. It is not an option for Cyprus but an imperative need which not only acts as a shield against the Turkish designs to undermine its international personality but also facilitates the efforts for a solution to the Cyprus problem,” he concluded.
The proceeds from the event were donated, as every year, to the aid fund for the children of Cyprus, which aims at providing financial assistance to children of Greek Cypriots living in occupied Cyprus and poor families in Cyprus.
