CYPRUS: European Union foreign ministers have expressed "strong regret" at the Greek Cypriot rejection of last Saturday's referendum on the unification of Cyprus and said they were determined that a united Cyprus would one day join the EU.
The ministers promised to end the isolation of northern Cyprus and asked the European Commission to suggest ways of increasing economic co-operation between northern Cyprus and the EU.
"The Turkish Cypriot community have expressed their clear desire for a future within the European Union. The Council is determined to put an end to the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community and to facilitate the reunification of Cyprus by encouraging the economic development of the Turkish Cypriot community," they said.
The ministers recommended that €259 million earmarked for northern Cyprus in the event of the settlement should be used to improve economic co-operation between the two parts of the island.
EU ambassadors will meet in Brussels tomorrow to agree a package of measures aimed at easing the isolation of northern Cyprus, including a softening of the trade embargo imposed after the Turkish invasion of the island 30 years ago. The ministers want to secure agreement on the measures before Saturday, when 10 new countries, including the Greek part of Cyprus, join the EU.
The Commissioner responsible for Enlargement, Mr Guenter Verheugen, said that easing sanctions on northern Cyprus was not tantamount to recognition of the self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is not recognised by any country in the world apart from Turkey.
"Under no circumstances should we allow a situation in which Turkish Cypriots would be punished for the fact that a settlement could not be reached. We will have to co-operate with the authorities in the north," he said.
Some ministers expressed anger at the Greek Cypriot government, which campaigned against the referendum and Belgium's Mr Louis Michel warned that the action could have serious consequences for Nicosia. "This is an affront to Europe. Those who campaigned for a 'no' may perhaps not have measured all the consequences," he said.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, said that the EU respected the outcome of the referendum but would continue to seek the unification of Cyprus.
"Everything doesn't stop because of what happened," he said.
Among the proposals for easing the isolation of northern Cyprus is allowing it to export citrus fruits and other products to the EU. Some EU governments want to go further by allowing direct air links between EU states and northern Cyprus.
Although the EU, in common with most of the international community, recognises the authority of the Greek Cypriot government over the whole of the island, officials say that the "green line" dividing the two parts of Cyprus will become a de facto external border of the EU from next Saturday.