‘East-Med disputes cannot be solved without a settlement’
DISPUTES in the Eastern Mediterranean over maritime boundaries and natural resources cannot be settled without a solution in Cyprus, an MEP has said.
Hungarian deputy Marton Gyongyosi, a member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, called on international organisations such as the EU, Nato and the UN to step up efforts to forge a lasting Cyprus settlement.
Speaking to Turkey’s Anadolu news agency, Mr Gyongyosi said: “I share concerns that this diplomatic standoff [between Turkey and Greece] might turn into an open military conflict.
“But I was shocked by the level of ignorance of history and geographical facts that surrounds this whole issue. I am worried that a lot of EU officials and representatives don’t see the problem.
“The division of Cyprus has been a problem for over 40 years which has led to a continuous antagonism between two valuable Nato member states, Turkey and Greece.”
Mr Gyongyosi said the the EU was partly to blame for the tensions by “importing” the division of Cyprus when it admitted the southern portion of the island in 2004.
“Greece and [South] Cyprus are playing out the card of EU solidarity concerning the brawl in the Eastern Mediterranean,” he said, adding that the 2004 “Annan Plan” – which was accepted by Turkish Cypriots but overwhelmingly rejected by Greek Cypriots — would have brought a longterm solution.
“The Greek Cypriots rejected the solution, knowing that the EU was going to welcome them as an EU member and Turkish Cypriots would get off the map,” he continued.
“In 2004, the EU made an enormous mistake by integrating [Greek] Cyprus. They should have taken a firm position on making reconciliation between the Turkish and the Greek Cypriots as an underlining condition of EU accession.
“It doesn’t take a lot of wisdom to foretell that without sorting out the ethnic conflict, the problem would cause anxiety and division between EU states if we import a problem that could have been sorted out before the accession.”