Last East German premier in Cyprus

HANS Modrow, the last premier of communist former East Germany, said yesterday that Cyprus’ EU accession could contribute to a Cyprus settlement, and that no conditions regarding the island’s unification should be imposed on its EU membership bid.

Modrow, who is the honourary chairman of the Party of Democratic Socialism, called on President Glafcos Clerides and House President Spyros Kyprianou before meeting with other political leaders on the island.

A guest of the communist party, Akel, Modrow said his own party, now represented in the German parliament, would press the new government of Chancellor-elect Gerhardt Schroeder to demand the unconditional implementation of UN resolutions on Cyprus.

He added that a Cyprus settlement should not be a condition of the Republic’s eventual EU membership.

“No obstacles should come up in this procedure, such as the settlement of the Cyprus problem before Cyprus’ accession,” he said. “We cannot accept this.”

He said he and Clerides discussed the status of the Cyprus problem and the latest initiatives towards its settlement under UN resolutions.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.