Cyprus leaders agree to open new crossing point at Limnits

Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders on Friday agreed to open a new checkpoint linking the two sides on the divided island in a move expected to boost slow-moving peace talks. The crossing point, in a remote semi-mountainous region in the north-west of the island, had been a long standing demand from locals living on both sides.
"The two leaders decided to proceed with the opening of the Limnitis crossing point under normal rules of existing crossings," said Taye-Brook Zerihoun, the United Nations special representative for Cyprus.
It was not immediately clear when the checkpoint would open. The Limnitis checkpoint and the access to and from Kokkina will be the seventh crossing linking the island's estranged Greek and Turkish Cypriots, separated by a U.N. policed buffer zone splitting the island east to west.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, on a fleeting visit to Cyprus on Thursday, said the EU would finance part of the cost of the new checkpoint.
Cyprus was divided in a Turkish invasion in 1974 triggered by a brief Greek inspired coup. Leaders of the two sides launched reunification talks last year.
The leaders of the two communities in Cyprus, President Demetris Christofias, and T/c leader Mehmet Ali Talat, have reached an agreement for the opening of Limnitis crossing point.
The decision was taken during today’s 34th meeting between the two leaders, in the framework of the direct negotiation process aiming at finding a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem.
Crossing of persons wishing to visit Kokkina will take place with the escort of UNFICYP. The visits will be made by minibuses on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. The T/c side may request UNFICYP escort for one or two extra minibuses a week.
There will be transfer of reasonable quantities of food and water and other supplies of non-military nature with UNFICYP escort to Kokkina, which will be connected to the nearest electricity grid before the opening of the crossing point.
The rules governing the crossing of ambulances will apply. Reciprocally, G/c ambulances will cross in the opposite direction to hospitals in Nicosia. In case of fire, T/c fire engines and accompanying water tanks will be able to call at Kokkina.
Ever since the 1974 Turkish invasion, Greek Cypriot residents in the area of Limnitis, located at the northeastern coast of Cyprus, have to travel to Paphos, on the western coast, and Limassol, on the south, in order to reach the capital Nicosia. Opening a crossing point at Limnitis would make this journey far shorter. President Christofias and Talat have been engaged in direct negotiations since September 2008, with an aim to reunite the island.