CONFIRMATION yesterday that the Finnish EU presidency’s compromise to avoid an EU-Turkey crisis next month is verbal and not in writing, explains why the government has been able to engage in a game of ‘plausible deniability’ over the past two months.
Since reports that the Finnish initiative existed surfaced in August, the government has on the one hand acknowledged the existence of the proposal but on the other hand has consistently denied it has received it.
This week the government said it was still “waiting for” Finland’s proposal, and in a separate comment, President Tassos Papadopoulos said the initiative “was not final”. Yet Foreign Minister George Lillikas was in Athens yesterday discussing it with his Greek counterpart Dora Bakoyianni.
Even as Lillikas was meeting Bakoyianni, back in Nicosia, government spokesman Christodoulos Pashiardis was insisting no proposal had been received from the Finns.
The Finnish initiative, currently under intense negotiation in Brussels and Ankara, and yesterday in Athens, aims to find a way in which Turkey can fulfil its obligations to the EU under the customs union protocol.
However this means Ankara must open its ports and airports to Greek Cypriot traffic. Turkey has insisted it will not do so unless reciprocal measures are taken by the EU to allow the Turkish Cypriot north to trade directly with the bloc.
The Greek Cypriots want a deal that would see the return of Varosha, something that is anathema to the Turkish Cypriot side unless part of a comprehensive Cyprus settlement.
Finland with its initiative is attempting to defuse the situation before Turkey’s review next month.
Suspicions existed that the Finnish proposal was verbal and not in writing but this was confirmed to the Cyprus Mail yesterday by a Greek Cypriot source close to the process.
“It’s a verbal proposal which at some point may be written down but it’s not a document,” said the source.
This is likely a deliberate ploy by Finnish presidency to avoid ruining any chance of success. It allows the situation to remain fluid and negotiable without risk of the proposal either being leaked as a document, or sinking entirely under the weight of the usual haggling over words and terminology that characterise efforts to reach any sort of agreement between the two sides in Cyprus.
There was however more speculation yesterday that Papadopoulos had rejected the proposal on Thursday during a meeting with a delegation of Scandinavian ambassadors to the island.
Asked yesterday about the meeting, Pashiardis said: “He [Papadopoulos] didn’t have the opportunity to reject a proposal he didn’t get so far.”
The spokesman did however receive the ambassadors and the issue did arise, Pashardis admitted.
“The president repeated our position that we don’t accept any proposal, any formula, any ideas and thoughts which do not provide for the return of Varosha to its lawful inhabitants,” he said.
The Greek Cypriot source also said it was unlikely Papadopoulos would issue an outright rejection of the formula.
“Bakoyianni said today Greece was considering the Finnish proposal because it has positive elements. As Lillikas is in Athens and he saw her just before the statement, it’s doubtful the President gave such a reply,” said the source.
In statements made in Athens, Bakoyianni said there was a procedure going on for Turkey’s EU accession and that there were obligations that Turkey must fulfil. The Finnish proposal was a foundation for discussion, she said. “We believe it (the proposal) needs various improvements but I will not get in the substance of the proposal,” she said.
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