EU Commissioner: ready to contribute to a Cyprus solution

Olli Rehn, European Union Commissioner for Enlargement, has communicated to President Demetris Christofias the EU readiness to assist efforts towards a negotiated settlement in Cyprus.

Rehn informed Christofias about the views of the President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso on the EU readiness to contribute to the efforts for a solution to the Cyprus problem and on the issue of the European acquis application in the northern Turkish occupied areas of the island.

President Christofias and Commissioner Rehn met on Friday at the Presidential Palace.

According to an official announcement, during the meeting they agreed that the Commission’s working group on the Cyprus issue will keep in close contact with the Cyprus government.

The working group on the Cyprus issue was established by Barroso, who is also the acting chairman. Rehn is the vice president.

Cyprus joined the EU in May 2004, but implementation of the European acquis has been suspended in the occupied areas.

President Christofias and Talat have been engaged in direct negotiations since early September last year, aiming at reunifying the island, divided since the Turkish invasion of 1974.