Cyprus Division Remains Obstacle To Turkey's EU Hopes Says Prodi
by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels
11 November 2003

European Commission President Romani Prodi told the Turkish government last week that the lack of a settlement on the divided island of Cyprus remained a serious hindrance to its own aspirations to join the European Union.

Whilst revealing the results of an assessment of Turkish progress towards European Accession, Prodi told the European Parliament that despite significant progress being made, a failure to resolve the Turkish situation remained an obstacle.

"Reaching a settlement quickly is in Turkey's interest too, because this would prevent the Cyprus issue from becoming an obstacle to its own aspirations," said Prodi.

Meanwhile, Enlargement Commissioner Gunther Verheugen, responding to the Commission President, sought to play down the issue.

"This is not a prerequisite" he told parliament, "this is simply noting a fact ... this is a political message, quite a considerable one", adding that there existed a “window of opportunity” after elections in Northern Cyprus in December.

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