Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou has said that the Greek Cypriot side has to show seriousness in the process of direct negotiations for a settlement of the Cyprus question and expressed hope that Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat will follow suit.
Kyprianou said that the Greek Cypriot side will speak at the negotiating table and will resist temptation to comment in public, by responding to Talat’s remarks.
Speaking before departure for Brussels to attend the EU General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC), Kyprianou was asked to comment on public statements by the Turkish Cypriot leader, according to which Brussels view positively derogations regarding the acquis communautaire, in the context of a Cyprus solution.
“I don’t think that Talat has the authority to speak on behalf of the EU. If there is any development, Brussels themselves will announce it,” Kyprianou said, and added that “I don’t think that it is a good tactic to comment on whatever Talat says.”
Responding to another question, Kyprianou said that “if the Turkish Cypriot side wants to leak certain things selectively, we must not fall into the trap” of doing the same.
“We must show seriousness. We will say what we have to say at the negotiating table,” he stressed.
Kyprianou said that the President of the Republic has already started to brief the leaderships of political parties on the direct negotiations.
Georgia, Belarus, the Balkans, Zimbabwe and Somalia will be on the agenda of the Brussels meeting. The GAERC will also discuss the WTO Doha round and begin preparing the European Council.
Following the Extraordinary European Council meeting on 1 September, the Gymnich in Avignon and the visit on 8 September of Nicolas Sarkozy, Jose Manuel Barroso and Javier Solana to Moscow, the GAERC intends to adopt a common action to deploy 200 EU observers in Georgia, in accordance with the 8 September agreement reached with the Russian and Georgian governments.
The Ministers will also raise the issue of the European contribution to the Georgian reconstruction effort as well as the preparation of the international conference on the stability and security of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which according to the terms of the 8 September agreement should begin on 15 October in Geneva. The GAERC also intends to appoint a special representative to coordinate the EU action in the context of the Georgian crisis.
As agreed in the July meeting, the GAERC will further examine the situation in Zimbabwe to assess the status of negotiations between the parties to form a government. In the absence of serious perspectives, the GAERC is likely to decide on tightening sanctions with regard to those persons close to the regime who participated in the campaign of violence that marked elections in May and June in this country.
Kyprianou said this is a very important issue, since there are sanctions against this country by the EU and is particularly sensitive for Cyprus because it is a member of the Commonwealth and because there are Cypriots living in Zimbabwe and we are interested in having stability and tranquility in this country.
Ministers will review the situation in Serbia, in the wake of the arrest and transfer of Radovan Karadzic to the Hague and the perspectives for EU/Serbia relations in this context.
The GAERC will specify the framework for EU engagement in the fight against piracy off the coast of Somalia. The GAERC will evaluate the Doha round negotiations at the World Trade Organisation, after the failure of July's ministerial meeting and the consequences for the EU. Trade Ministers will attend a dinner on trade and environmental issues.
Foreign Affairs Ministers will hold first discussions on the preparation of the European Council meeting scheduled for October.
