Brussels, 17/03/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European Union is organising a Donors' Conference for Cyprus on 15 April, if an agreement between the two parties is reached in the meantime. "We are making all the necessary provisions and sending out invitations, but the Donors' Conference will only be held if there is agreement", a spokesperson of the European Commission told EUROPE. The aim of the conference will be to help the island, which has been divided since 1974, to meet the costs of its reunification, which causes particular concern for the Greek Cypriots of the southern part of the island, which is far more developed. The conference would thus be organised before the referenda of 20 April, in order to help convince Greek and Turkish Cypriots to approve the agreement - if there is agreement. The European Commission refuses to state how much the Donors' Conference would have to raise. "It all depends on the content of the agreement, the contour of the border and the number of people who return", a spokesperson states.
To date, the European Commission has said it is willing to organise a Donors' Conference but has not said when. The European Union recalled at its Troika meeting with the Turkish authorities on 8 March in Ankara that it would prefer Cyprus to be reunited before it joins the European Union on 1 May. Otherwise, Cyprus as a whole will integrate the European Union on 1 May 2004 but application of acquis communautaire will be suspended for the Turkish Cypriot northern part of the island.
The EU-Cyprus Joint Parliamentary Committee welcomed, on Wednesday, the EU's intention to hold this conference "to ease the great financial burden" associated with reunification of the island, and called upon the "international community as a whole to generously contribute to this end". The joint committee brings together MEPs and members of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Cyprus, which represents the Greek Cypriots. In its conclusions, the joint committee hopes to put pressure not only on the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash, but also on Turkey. It underlines the fact that a failure to resolve the Cyprus problem "will pose a serious obstacle to Turkey's European ambitions" as it would be "unimaginable" to open discussions on Turkey's EU membership "as long as Turkey does not recognise a European Union Member State, maintains military forces occupying part of the territory of that state, and violates fundamental rights of European citizens". Turkey has occupied the northern part of the island since 1974.
Discussions are continuing in Nicosia (Cyprus) under the aegis of the United Nations. If there is no agreement by 22 March, Greece and Turkey will meet at the negotiating table for one week. If discussions still do not bring a solution then it is foreseen that the United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, will bring the work to a close, before the text is put to referendum on 20 April (EUROPE of 5 March, p.6).
Fifty-three countries are invited to the Donors' Conference, including OECD, OPEC and Security Council countries.