Brussels, 20/09/2005 (Agence Europe) - During the meeting of the External Relations Committee (RELEX) of the Committee of the Regions (CoR), on 15 September in Paphos, on the theme of the contribution to be made by local authorities to the emergence of a multicultural society, the members of the Committee called for the “Wall of Cyprus” to be brought down (see EUROPE 9029/9025). In his speech, the Chairman of the Relex Committee, Christos Paleologos (PES, Greece), asserted that the “local authorities of Cyprus and the EU cannot accept a demarcation line within the EU”. MEP Ioannis Kasoulides (EPP-ED, Cyprus), recalled that the local authorities had launched projects addressed to all Cypriots to allow communication between the Greek and Turkish communities. “The local authorities manage the daily life of the citizens, and they are the main actors in bringing about reunification of Cyprus”, he said. Dora Bakoyannis (EPP, Greece), Mayor of Athens and CoR member, stressed the role played by the CoR and the local authorities in bringing citizens closer together, saying: “It is with the support of the EU that the problem of the island's division will be resolved”.
It is to be recalled that the president of the EPP Group of the CoR, Isidoro Gottardo of Italy, had issued a statement along the same lines (see EUROPE 9029) and that the CoR had adopted during its plenary session of 6 and 7 July, an opinion on Turkey in which it “demands that Ankara recognise the Republic of Cyprus before opening EU membership talks”.