GREECE warned yesterday that if the issue of Varosha was removed from the Finnish compromise to avoid a Turkey-EU crisis, the initiative could be derailed.
Although the Finnish proposal has not been publicised, and is said to be only verbal, it is believed to suggest that Varosha be handed to the UN for work to start so that it can be returned to Greek Cypriots at a future stage.
The Cyprus government, however, wants a fixed timetable for the return of the ghost town. It suggests 18 months. The government has also made it clear that if Varosha is not returned, there can be no deal on the Finnish proposal.
Yesterday, newspapers in Greece reported that after Turkish lobbying the Finns had dropped Varosha from the initiative.
Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyanni said that if the reports were correct, the whole plan would be at risk.
“The issue of Varosha has been an integral part of the package of ideas. It would mean a backdown, which would certainly lead the presidency’s effort to great difficulties if not a dead end,” she told reporters during a visit to Russia.
It was the first time Greece had made such a comment.
The Finnish initiative is designed to ease Turkey’s EU accession path. Ankara is obliged to open its ports and airports to Greek Cypriot traffic under the EU’s customs union protocol but is refusing to do so.
To avoid a clash with the bloc, the Finnish EU presidency is attempting to work out a compromise formula. The EU has imposed a December 6 deadline for an agreement.
The Finnish EU presidency declined to comment yesterday on whether the Greek reports were true, but Finnish ambassador to Cyprus Risto Piipponen said on Wednesday that there had been no changes to its proposal.
Government Spokesman Christodoulos Pashiardis told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that the Greek Cypriot side knew nothing about moves to drop Varosha from the Finnish initiative.
“We don’t know if the Finnish Presidency has done what was reported in the Greek newspapers,” he said. “Mrs Bakoyianni was responding to information. It’s not certain if the issue of Varosha has been removed from the initiative. But we fully agree with the statement of Mrs Bakoyianni that if Varosha has been removed, there is no chance for the Finnish initiative to succeed.”
