The statement made by Mr. Herman Van Rompuy, President of the EU Council, following the Greek Cypriot side’s decision to suspend the negotiations carried out under the UN auspices in Cyprus, revealed once again that the European Union persists in not understanding the Cyprus issue and in this context, the situation related with the dispute arising from the unilateral initiatives of the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus (GCA) with respect to the hydrocarbon resources in the Eastern Mediterranean and the reasons behind it.

This also demonstrates the difficulty of the European Union to contribute to the efforts for a comprehensive settlement as it integrated the GCA by its own mistake without any settlement.

We consider that the European Union should extricate itself from this dilemma and adopt a balanced and more realistic attitude which will direct the Greek Cypriot side towards the settlement of the issue, albeit belatedly.

The European Union will be able to contribute, only as such, to transform the Eastern Mediterranean into a region of welfare and cooperation.