FRENCH Foreign Minister Hubert Védrine wrapped up a two-day official visit to the island yesterday, expressing support for Cyprus’ EU candidacy whether or not the two sides reach a settlement over the Cyprus problem.
“Everyone hopes that when we reach accession all necessary factors will be there to facilitate a solution of the Cyprus problem,” Védrine told reporters at a joint news conference with his Cypriot counterpart Yiannakis Cassoulides.
The French Foreign Minister said his country always supported a settlement of the Cyprus problem under UN auspices and had backed the UN Secretary General’s efforts during the latest round of proximity talks.
But although Védrine said a solution to the Cyprus problem was not a prerequisite to EU accession, he did note that the 15 member states considered it wise to examine their position on the issue again once accession talks were completed. He added this did not mean there was a hidden formula, nor that there was any bad intention on the part of the EU.
“We want to see the EU’s enlargement”, he insisted.
Védrine said he was saddened by Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash’s withdrawal from the UN-sponsored proximity talks that opened in December 1999 and his insistence on recognition of his regime before they could resume.
“We hope this decision is not final and that he re-engages in negotiations.”
Asked to comment on recent statements by Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem that there would be “no limits” to Turkey’s reaction if Cyprus joined the EU, Védrine said he was not here to “give a lecture on Turkey,” but because Cyprus was an EU candidate and France attached great significance to the island’s accession course.
Cassoulides said they had also discussed other issues of mutual interest such as culture and commerce, as well as the situation in the Balkans and the Middle East.
Védrine’s visit was the first time a French Foreign Minister has come to Cyprus since independence in 1960.
He flew on to Lebanon later in the day and was also due in Syria before returning to Paris.
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.
