Our View: Christodoulides is beating a dead horse with EU role idea

Addressing the AGM of the employers and industrialists federation Oev on Tuesday, President Nikos Christodoulides repeated the tune about “a more active role on the part of the EU” in the Cyprus issue. This has been his slogan since the election campaign and we have been hearing it whenever he speaks about the Cyprus issue, although it appears to have lost much of its sheen.

Perhaps this was the reason he offered a variation on this theme on Tuesday, saying that “the EU can offer to all parties involved, to all those involved in the Cyprus issue, those incentives and benefits, thus leading through the settlement of the Cyprus problem to a mutually acceptable state of things.” Would the EU need to have a more active role in the process to offer the “incentives and benefits” that would lead to settlement?

The rhetoric appears to have become more general. Back in March, Christodoulides had gone to Brussels declaring that he would put his proposal about the Cyprus talks to the Commission’s hierarchy and to his colleagues at the European Council meeting. He would seek the active involvement of an EU personality in the talks, he said, but also gave assurances that the process would remain within the framework of the UN.

What difference would the active involvement of the EU make, when the UN would oversee the process? The Turkish side, meanwhile, rejected the idea which, strictly speaking, made it a non-starter. This has not stopped the president from mentioning it repeatedly even though he appears to have lowered his targets, given the apparent lack of interest in Brussels for his proposal.

Nevertheless, a couple of weeks ago the government spokesman said Christodoulides was planning a tour of European capitals to explain his proposal to heads of government. The countries that would be visited were not mentioned by the spokesman although on Wednesday it was announced that he would be in Paris on May 3, where he would have a working lunch with President Emanuel Macron. An official announcement said he would discuss his proposal for the active involvement of the EU as well as his ideas for breaking the deadlock and resuming talks.

It is all rather vague. In two weeks the Turkish elections will be held and things may become clearer regarding the future of the talks. We suspect, however, that the more active role of the EU, assuming Brussels accepts the idea, will not be an incentive for Turkey, regardless of who wins the presidential elections, to agree to Cyprus talks. Christodoulides will need to be much bolder with his proposals if he sincerely wants Turkey to agree to the resumption of talks.

The active role of the EU might sound good to his Greek Cypriot audience, but it is an offer the Turkish side will be happy to turn down, and nobody apart from the parties in the government alliance would blame it for that.