Brussels, 14/04/2004 (Agence Europe) - By making a commitment to help the island meet the costs of reunification, the international community is going to attempt on Thursday to encourage Cypriots to approve the Annan plan. The spokesperson for European Commissioner for enlargement, Jean-Christophe Filori declared that the conference in Brussels on 15 April is expected to mark "a political commitment from the international community in both political and financial areas". The conference is not officially a donors' conference, this kind of meeting will be arranged if the referendums obtain a "yes" vote on 24 April. However, a certain number of participants will announce on Thursday that they intend to make donations. The spokesperson for the USA Secretary of State therefore declared that the USA would be making a "substantial commitment". The European Commission will not be making any new promises, explained Mr Filori, who said that the EU was already committed to providing an additional EUR 300 million to Cyprus if reunification is agreed on.
Thirty four countries and international financial organisations are expected at this pre-donors' conference, including EU Member States, most accession countries and permanent members of the UN Security Council, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The prime minister of the Cypriot Republic Tassos Papadopoulos is not expected to attend, although his counterpart from the self-proclaimed Republic of North Cyprus, which is only recognised by Turkey, Mehmet Ali Talat, is expected. The morning session will focus on political declarations, the afternoon will assess what needs doing. Discussions will take place behind closed doors. On Wednesday Turkey declared that the relocation of many Turkish Cypriots, which is included in the Annan plan, would cost USD 3.8 billion (according to the Anatolia Agency). On Wednesday the European Commission refused to disclose its own evaluation on this point.
Although leaders form the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities, Tassos Papadopoulos and Rauf Denktash agree for once, both have called for a "no" vote in the referendum. United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan did not rule out postponing the referendum if both parties asked him to.