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Greek Cypriots Firmly Reject UN Reunification Plan

by Lorys Charalamabous, Tax-News.com, Cyprus

26 April 2004

In Saturday's twin referenda in Cyprus to vote on the United Nation's 'Annan' plan for reunification of the divided island, 67% of voters in the predominantly Turkish north accepted the plan, while 76% of Greek Cypriots in the south rejected it.

This means that the plan fails, and just the southern part of the island will join the European Union on May 1st.

Given that UN, EU and US officials had put maximum psychological pressure on the Greek Cypriots in the last week to accept the deal, the size of the majority against it must remove any hope that minor adjustments to the plan could make it workable.

While many factors combined to turn the south against the plan, one of the most important seems to have been the fact that in the proposed new bi-zonal federation, Turkish troops would have had the right to operate over the whole island, albeit in gradually decreasing numbers.

EU Enlargement Commissioner, Günter Verheugen expressed his strong disappointment at the result, which he attributes partly to the attitude of Greek Cypriot leader, Tassos Papadopoulos. In a televised speech delivered earlier this month, Mr Papadopoulos announced that he could not "accept or sign the plan", and urged his countrymen to take a similar stance.

Last week Mr Verheugen told MEPs on Wednesday that: "I personally feel that I have been cheated by the government of the Republic of Cyprus."

"For months on end I have done everything I could in good faith to make it possible for the Greek Cypriot side to accept this plan on the understanding that this is what they intended to do. Now things look very different," he added.

The Republic of Cyprus will now have a veto over the admission of Turkey to the EU, and can presumably hold out for much better terms in any eventual reunification, although it may have to put up with a considerable amount of flak from fellow EU members in the meantime!

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