ALITHIA: “De Soto: No extension” No extension to the talks leading to the referenda would be given and there was no plan B should the talks fail, the daily said quoting special UN envoy Alvaro de Soto after his meeting with Greek Foreign Minister Petros Molyviatis. The Peruvian diplomat also warned that the two sides should study carefully the possible consequences of a possible rejection of the plan in the referenda. De Soto stressed that the two leaders should support the referenda.
HARAVGHI: “Annan insists on the timetable” United Nations Secretary-general Kofi Annan suggested the two sides were progressing slowly, pointing out, however, that the UN would insist on the set timetables. Annan said that if the two sides had not reached an agreement by March 22 or 23, then he would get involved in the procedure. The United Nations Secretary-general said he did not know whether the next round of negotiations would be held in Switzerland.
SIMERINI: “British preparing trick” The daily reported yesterday that Britain was preparing a new formula to satisfy Turkey’s demand for permanent derogations from the acquis communautaire in case of a solution. The government has rejected the suggestion but Britain continues to push its proposal promising Turkey to help it succeed in its demands. If they succeed, Greek Cypriots would lose their individual right of appeal to the European court since the derogations would be embedded in EU law.
MACHI: “Denktash insists on citizenship” Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash is advancing the provision of internal citizenship by the constituent states with provisions backed by religious and ethnic elements. The provisions state that one has to be a Muslim and be of Turkish descent in order to be eligible for citizenship in the Turkish Cypriot state. This could open the door for the import of more settlers, the daily said.
POLITIS: “Prime Ministers in the finale” The daily reported that the USA had warned all concerned that the two sides should now start a give-and-take procedure, which should continue during the four-party conference in Switzerland. The US and the UN insist that Greece and Turkey should be represented by their foreign ministers in the conference while the finale would take place in the presence of the countries’ prime ministers. The Turkish Prime Minister has already accepted the invitation and pressure was now turned on his Greek counterpart.
PHILELEFTHEROS: “With gifts and threats” The envoys are worried about the negative climate on the Greek Cypriot side and the result of the referendum, putting into effect various scenarios to overturn the situation. One of the ideas floating around is to hold the donors’ conference before the referenda to let people know that they would not carry the burden of a solution. At the same time they are trying to include elements that would satisfy both sides in the changes of the UN plan, the daily said.
