|
"The EU's membership negotiations with Turkey have barely started but already worries are surfacing in Brussels and London that they could collapse within months," said the piece. "No-one thought the talks would be easy but what is driving such fears of an early breakdown? The answer is Cyprus ... Most EU diplomats and politicians do not want talks with Turkey to collapse in acrimony. They do want to see Turkey open its ports to Greek Cypriot vessels, but they also want moves to resolve the Cyprus problem.
But the [Greek] Cypriots have much more bargaining power vis-a-vis Turkey now they are inside the EU, and the other EU member states much less leverage over them. Some diplomats worry that the Cypriot strategy is to ‘Europeanise' the Cyprus dispute, moving the dispute away from a UN framework where compromise is inevitable
[ back ] |
