Last Situation of Cyprus-2002 essays

Last Situation of Cyprus-2002 essays Cyprus, after so many years, is again in the news. International interest is alive again and hardly a week passes by without some personalities from one or another country visiting it. The interest is fully justified. After such a long interruption at long last the inter-communal talks have started again and since the 16th of January they are going on without interruption. President Clerides and President Denktash meet regularly, two or three times a week, and will continue doing so until some time in June. At the same time the E.U. accession process is reaching its final stages and it is expected that by December this year, Cyprus will be one of the countries to be invited to join the Union at the Copenhagen Summit. The truth is that accession to the EU offers a unique opportunity: it will make the solution of the Cyprus problem much easier to implement and will be of clear benefit to everybody involved. By far the most important contribution of the EU would be provided by its various institutions and Cypruss participation in them. Furthermore, Cypriots in the Union will come to understand, as for example the Germans or the Belgians have, that they can be loyal at the same time to their community, federated state, nation and EU as a whole. Another very important advantage of a solution, prior to accession, is that any agreement between the two communities will be enshrined in the Accession Treaty and will thus provide the best guarantee possible to both communities that what has been agreed is final and has to be implemented. With a solution the Turkish Cypriot community will be harmonized with the Greek Cypriot Community within a short period of time, probably not more than few years, there will be no noticeable difference in the standards of living between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. This will be made possible partly by the large special assistance that the EU is ready to provide. Already, it has announced 206 m...