EU urges rethink on Cyprus position on Kosovo

THE EUROPEAN Union yesterday urged Cyprus and Greece to rethink their opposition to Kosovo independence.

The two million ethnic Albanians in the southern Serbian province are expected to declare independence sometime after Serbia’s presidential elections later this month.

Though Kosovo is seeking support from most EU countries, some European Union member states have misgivings over the prospect of a declaration of independence.

“There is always hope that things will change,” said Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency.

“You can understand that most of the EU members would like Cyprus, Greece, maybe some other countries, to assume a position that would enable us to move forward,” he said at an informal conference of EU foreign ministers from Mediterranean states in Cyprus.

Cyprus has concerns over the precedent that might be set by a declaration of independence by Kosovo.

“We want to keep the widest possible consensus among the European Union members but we also have to think about national interests,” said President Tassos Papadopoulos when asked about the stance of his government on the Kosovo question.

It has followed the line of Russia, a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council, which says that room for negotiation between Kosovo and Serbia has not been exhausted.

Cyprus’ stance on the Kosovo issue in the EU could be crucial. Diplomats say a simmering defence row between Turkey and Cyprus could endanger European security forces in Kosovo by preventing closer co-operation between the EU and NATO missions.

The EU will soon take over responsibility for policing in Kosovo from the United Nations and had sought tighter cooperation between its 1,600-strong mission and the 16,000 NATO peacekeepers who will remain there.

NATO-member Turkey blocked those plans in protest against a longstanding Cypriot veto of closer defence ties between it and the EU, with which Ankara began entry talks in 2005.

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.