FRANCE said the text presented yesterday as a response to Ankara was probably the best that could be achieved, and that it expected Cyprus to go along with it.
In an interview with Politis newspaper a day before the draft was presented to EU member states, French ambassador Hadelin de la Tour-du-Pin was quoted as saying the text of the response was not perfect, but it was “probably the best compromise which we could achieve”.
“The message is that we would want, we would appreciate, we would invite the support of the Republic of Cyprus to this text. This text could have been slightly better, but the balance that it strikes is satisfactory,” the paper quoted the ambassador as saying.
France had been Cyprus’ main ally in the call for recognition since last month, when Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin cast doubt on the agreed October 3 for the start of Turkey’s accession talks, just days after Ankara met the final official EU condition by signing an agreement extending its customs union to new EU members, including Cyprus.
However, Ankara simultaneously issued a declaration saying the signing if the protocol did not mean the recognition of the Republic of Cyprus.
De Villepin said at the time it was inconceivable that a negotiation process could start with a country that did not recognise every member state of the European Union.
But after negotiating with EU president Britain, France agreed to the compromise text presented in Brussels yesterday, where it was rejected by Nicosia.
The interview with De la Tour-du-Pin said that France had agreed on some points with the British presidency and said it contained a formula for the recognition of Cyprus.
“A European document must contain the views of Sweden, Poland, Germany, Italy and other countries which strongly support the start of Turkish accession negotiations. No counter-statement would fully satisfy all members and the Commission,” he said.
“The statement by Dominique de Villepin was based on the logical argument that you cannot be a member of a club if you don’t recognise all of its members.”
He said France had consulted its partners, legal consultants and the legal services of the EU. “Although the government of Cyprus has a different view, the law service, at least the legal consultants of the Council, decided that the Turkish declaration was not an obstacle. It would not nullify the extension of the Ankara agreement,” the paper quoted him as saying. “Our position was not precisely that, but this was after all the position of the legal services. We consulted our partners and reached the conclusion that all, including Greece and Cyprus, wanted Turkey to start accession negotiations on October 3. At the end of August, I was told by Paris that we could not be more Cypriot than the Cypriots.”
