Bridging proposals criticised

The Cyprus Mail says that after only a month on the job, the new UN special adviser has already fallen foul of the rejectionist parties when he was quoted at the weekend saying he would be coming to the island with “bridging” proposals.

Epsen Barth Eide met on Saturday with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and in statements afterwards, said it was time to move forward. President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu had agreed that the negotiations would enter a new phase, he said.

“We’ll start doing that week after next. When I am back to Cyprus, I’ll come with some bridging proposals. We’ll go chapter after chapter and go into negotiations that already need to happen. I’ve been meeting with sides to talk about details of how we do that. But I am now quite optimistic that we are now moving into something different from what we have seen,” Eide said.

“That will be my personal priority. And that’s also the Secretary-General’s clear view. I want to go into the essence of the disagreements and I want to go into that fast and I’ll now focus on that.”

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon also referred to bridging the remaining differences, after a meeting with Eroglu in New York on Saturday.

“The Secretary-General… urged them to work without delay to bridge the remaining differences between their positions, building on the principles outlined in the Joint Declaration,” a UN statement said.

The Greens, socialist EDEK and the Citizens Alliance jumped on the ‘bridging proposals’ phrase on Monday, questioning its meaning and calling for explanations. “How do you bridge Turkey’s demand for dissolution of the Republic of Cyprus with the position of our side for continuation and evolution of the Republic?” said the latter.

But the government was quick to play down the development, saying that any bridging proposals, submitted by the UN would be non-binding and have no official standing.

Government Spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said such proposals would not in any way constitute a form of arbitration, a notion that was outside of the leaders’ joint statement.

“The UN… can orally make proposals to help the two parties, without these views being binding or having any official standing,” he said. “It is a form of sounding out the two sides,” he added.


Eide is expected in Cyprus at the beginning of next week.
 Eroglu, during his meeting with Ban on Saturday also suggested the organisation of a three-party summit in Geneva with the two sides and the UN. He said the Turkish Cypriot side had asked Ban to become more involved in the negotiations.

Difficult decisions lie ahead

An editorial in the Cyprus Mail says that one conclusion to be drawn from President Anastasiades’ visit to New York for the UN General Assembly meeting, is that he will soon be called to decide whether to accept the US invitation for Cyprus to become the superpower’s strategic partner and, more importantly, whether to agree to the peace deal that would allow this to happen.

Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides was very clear about Washington’s intentions, saying that “for the US, the settlement of the Cyprus problem constitutes an issue of priority, in combination with all other developments in our region, in which Cyprus has proved it can be an island of stability that they (US) need geo-strategically to bring peace to the wider region.”

An indication of how much of a priority a settlement is for the US was that Secretary of State John Kerry made time to meet Anastasiades, on his arrival to New York last Sunday, to discuss the peace talks which are set to resume next month. Kerry, according to a State Department official, told Anastasiades that he intended “to become personally involved in the procedure and help as much as he could for progress to be achieved.” He was even prepared to visit the island if this would be considered helpful. On Friday Anastasiades also met Vice President Joe Biden, who underlined the importance the US administration attached to Cyprus by visiting the island earlier in the year.

Never before has such an interest been shown in Cyprus at the highest level of the US administration, which has also been in consultation with Ankara. The Cyprus government spokesman said, after the Biden-Anastasiades meeting, the Americans recognised that actions were needed to change the intransigent Turkish stance, even though the US ambassador in Nicosia said earlier in the week that a solution was down to the two sides.

One thing is clear. Anastasiades will be under tremendous pressure in the coming few months to take the big steps demanded by our strategic partner, while facing strong opposition on the home front. The paper says these tough choices will not be confined to the Cyprus problem, but will also involve choosing between the US and Russia. The world is splitting into two spheres of influence again and we doubt Cyprus will have the option of having a foot in each one. This is a big dilemma, given the economy’s dependence on Russia but a choice will have to be made.

The government’s unprecedented step of consenting to the use of Akrotiri air-base as a launching pad for British air strikes against Islamic State positions is an indication that it is gradually aligning the island with the West. But this is just a step and many more will need to follow that will inevitably alienate Moscow, if it is to realise its declared objective of joining NATO.

Anastasiades will also have to persuade a stridently anti-West, anti-settlement political establishment – not to mention a financial sector dependent on Russian business – that the long term benefits of a strategic partnership with the US would far outweigh the short term problems that would inevitably be created.  We are already seeing some of the benefits – the ENI-KOGAS drillship arrived at Block 9 and begun operations last week without any interference from Turkish ships.

This is the bigger picture that our conservative politicians and other opinion formers obstinately refuse to see, as they feel safe focusing exclusively on their small, inward-looking, never-changing world. It is up to Anastasiades to help us all see the bigger picture and move the country westward, but first he has to find the courage, which he has not displayed much in his presidency, to take these tough and difficult decisions himself.

Coffeeshop

The Cyprus Mail’s satirical column, Coffeeshop, says Prez Nik was in euphoric mood last week in the Big Apple where he was entertained by the big boys of US politics, Kerry and Biden, met the UN Secretary-General and president of Egypt and, together with Mrs Nik, was photographed with the Obamas.

But the Yanks are making one big mistake. By having their top dogs lavishing attention on Nik and treating him like the leader of an important country, he would have no incentive to work for a settlement because it would end his presidency and the joy of meeting the world’s most powerful people.