Cyprus’ reunification to influence Turkey – EU relations

Cyprus’ reunification would have a decisive influence on Turkey’s closer relations with the European Union, Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt has said.

Presenting recently at the Swedish Parliament his government's Statement of Foreign Policy, Bildt noted that the reunification of Cyprus would mean increased security, freedom and welfare gains for the entire population of the island and for the region as a whole.

Bildt, whose country will hold the EU rotating presidency next semester, pointed out that reunification would have a decisive influence both on Turkey’s closer relations with the European Union and the prospects of improving coordination of NATO and EU peace and stability efforts.

“Sweden and the European Union support the negotiation process on the future of Cyprus. The reunification of Cyprus would mean increased security, freedom and welfare gains for the entire population of the island and for the region as a whole. Moreover, reunification would have a decisive influence both on Turkey’s closer relations with the European Union and the prospects of improving coordination of NATO and EU peace and stability efforts”, he said.

Swedish MPs took the floor, among them Christian-democrat Lennart Sacredeus, who referred to the continuous occupation of the coastal town of Famagusta by Turkish troops.

The Swedish MP asked the EU “to condemn the continuous crimes against an EU city”.

Cypriot President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat are meeting in Cyprus in the framework of the UN-led direct negotiations, which began last September with a view to reaching a solution of the Cyprus problem, which will reunite the country, divided since the Turkish invasion of 1974.

Since the Turkish invasion of 1974 and the occupation of the island’s northern third, Famagusta, on the east, has been under Turkish occupation. The fenced off part of the city is under the direct control of the Turkish military and remains to this day abandoned.