Brussels, 30/03/2004 (Agence Europe) - Negotiations were continuing in Bürgenstock on Tuesday, where Greeks, Turks and Cypriots met on Monday to discuss the new reunification plan for Cyprus, presented by Kofi Annan. After a day and a half of talks, it appeared that the "revisited" plan of the Secretary General of the United Nations went down well with the Turks, but was negatively received on the Greek side. Apart from a brief trip to Strasbourg for the College's weekly meeting, European Commissioner Günter Verheugen was present in Bürgenstock to make sure, according to a spokesperson, that the final text resulting from the negotiations was in line with the principles on which the EU is founded.
The new version of the Annan plan provides for a reduction by 5% (to 29%) of territory granted to the Turkish Cypriots, in exchange for a reduction in the number of Greek Cypriots allowed to settle on this territory. Greeks and Greek Cypriots were not impressed by a provision limiting the number of Greek Cypriots, who were forcibly removed by the Turkish army in 1974, settling in northern Cyprus in the case of reunification. The Turkish side hopes to avoid the north of the island being swamped by a massive influx of Greek Cypriots, whose standard of living is much higher than that of the Turkish minority, and Ankara pleaded for the EU to guarantee permanent restrictions on the freedom of residence of persons on the island. The EU would be prepared to allow Cyprus a temporary derogation to Community rules on free circulation. Another stumbling block is that under the new plan, Turkey could keep soldiers on the island even after accession to the EU. The Greeks have spoken out against Turkish requests for permanent derogations to the principles of European rules being taken into account in the new plan.