http://www.rnw.nl/hotspots/html/cyp040426.html Adriaan
van der Meer: EU delegation head in Cyprus
(photo: European Union)
Troubles for Brussels
But this also leaves Brussels
with a major problem inasmuch as it does not want to punish the Turkish Cypriots
for voting "yes" to the reunification plan. The EU has already said it wants to
provide Turkish Cyprus with economic support and help it out of its isolation.
But how do you do that with a state whose existence you don't even recognise?
Furthermore, the European Union's new outer border will actually cut
through the Mediterranean island, along the "green line" or buffer zone that
separates the two ethnic communities.
Mr van der Meer explains what the
situation will be:
"The entire island will join the EU, but the union's
policies and regulations will not apply to the north. This means that the
bufferzone will become the de-facto outer frontier of the European
Union."
Therefore, primary responsibility for the bufferzone will soon
lie with the European Union instead of the United Nations. The EU's foreign
ministers were due to address the situation on Monday. Various issues need to be
tackled, including how to handle trade and the movement of people between the
two parts of Cyprus. Complicated issues which require a clear answer from
Brussels.