Papandreou doubts changes can be made to Annan plan

GREEK opposition PASOK leader George Papandreou yesterday cast doubt over the possibility of obtaining any changes to the Annan plan.

Speaking after a one-hour meeting with President Tassos Papadopoulos, Papandreou said discussions had centred on imminent developments in the Cyprus problem.

“We discussed the next developments in the European Union and the United Nations, where there will be decisions about co-operation with the occupied part, as well as the date Turkey is asking for in December,” Papandreou said.

In December, the EU will be deciding whether to give Turkey a date to start accession negotiations.

Papandreou said the developments were important for the Cyprus problem and reiterated that his party supported Cyprus’ efforts for a viable solution to the Cyprus problem.

Asked whether he foresaw a resumption of the negotiations, he said that Papadopoulos believed there should be changes to the Annan plan.

“What these changes will be, when it will be possible to have them and whether it would be possible to have them is another question,” he said.

Regarding his meeting on Sunday with US State Secretary Colin Powel, Papandreou said they would discuss the Cyprus problem and he would pass on Papadopoulos’ thoughts on the matter.

Asked whether Papadopoulos would block Turkey’s accession negotiations in the EU Council in December, Papandreou said: “I think that President Papadopoulos has stated in public that he would not put any obstacles to Turkey’s EU aspirations”.

“A European course for Turkey opens new possibilities and hopes for a solution to the Cyprus problem within the EU procedure,” the former foreign minister said.

He added, however, that it would not be an easy matter and it would not happen immediately.

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.