E.U. Warns Greeks One Last Time

After a meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Solana indicated that if the Greeks say ‘No’ and the Turks say ‘Yes’ in today’s referenda, the relations with North Cyprus will be different. "The North will not be left out in the cold anymore," he said.

Meanwhile, E.U. Enlargement Commissioner Günther Verheugen spoke Friday on German television station, ARD. He said that the failure of Cyprus to unify because of the Greeks would be a total disappointment. The Commissioner stressed that the E.U. and U.N. will be prepared should the Cyprus issue remain unsolved.

Verheugen compared the situation in Cyprus to that of the Germans who did not want unification after the fall of the Berlin Wall. "To be honest, some of the Greeks’ objections to unification are just for show. I think, behind all these, there are economic interests."

When he was asked to elaborate about these interests, Verheugen mentioned that Greeks have concerns about competition in tourism. "I do not mean per capita income. Hotel owners in the Island’s south think that North Cyprus would be their rivals in tourism, since it is less known and has more beautiful places. That is, the issue here is petty calculations and the pursuit of interests that I could describe as ugly."

Verheugen continued, "Efforts in recent years were aimed at convincing the Turks. In the end, it has been achieved. Since the Cypriot-Greek side is accepted as the official government on the Island, all of Cyprus will be an E.U. member. However, in practice, the government will not be controlling all the regions and because of Turkish military presence on the Island, Cyprus will be seen as if it is under occupation. That is another issue and that will give rise to a problem in Turkey’s membership deliberations in the E.U."