Filenews 19 December 2021 - by Kostas Venizelos
The German bloc in the EU acts as a deterrent to the imposition of sanctions against occupying Turkey, while the attitude of our partners sends European solidarity towards the Republic of Cyprus. According to what has been discussed in the Council of EU Foreign Ministers last Monday, in Brussels, the issue of illegal Turkish actions in the enclosed area of Famagusta is of concern to the Union, texts have been formulated, but there is no political will to take decisions.
"F" will reveal today how the member states took a stand to get a full picture of who supports us and who doesn't. Indicative of the prevailing climate was the position of the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during his second speech. He said, as it became known, that he hoped his country would never find itself in the position of needing solidarity. This confirms the prevailing climate and the many difficulties that exist in accepting the obvious. Behind the scenes, however, it appeared that Nicosia had prepared alternative moves, with the aim of ensuring that a framework of sanctions would be adopted and then implementing measures.
In a meeting that had many issues on the agenda, the issue of Famagusta was of great concern to the foreign ministers.
The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, opening the debate, said that the time had come for decisions. Referring to the "choice paper", which he prepared and submitted, this, as he explained, concerned measures directly linked to the issue of Famagusta and more broadly the relations between Turkey and the EU. On the same wavelength, the Commissioner for Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, spoke, who put the Cyprus issue first. It has, however, distanced itself from the option of cutting funds. He argued that there had been no prior consultation of the European Commission on the matter.
The Republic of Cyprus, through Nikos Christodoulides, in its initial statement expressed objections to the "options document", mainly to paragraph 13 concerning the MOH for hydrocarbons. During the discussion, noting that Turkey has not changed course, he said that if no decisions are taken, we will send Turkey the message that it is acceptable to continue its behaviour. He expressed disappointment that member states are ready to take action against Russia, but are not ready to take action in the case of a member state.
The positions of the MFA were in the form of a relay race. In the sense that those who agreed followed up on the "thoughts" of the previous ones.
Germany, which is apparently handing out a game in its initial position, argued in the first place to say that any decisions should not affect the UN process. Not to affect, that is, a process that does not exist. He was quick to say that they (the member states) should ask themselves whether, at this juncture, sanctions against Turkey would have the desired effect. Wanting to say that further discussion of the issue is needed in Brussels, he asked a series of rhetorical questions: What would be Turkey's reaction? Could he use such a development for internal political purposes? What will be the result in Turkish civil society of a cut in funds? In a second speech, the German Foreign Minister said that solidarity means examining the consequences not only for one member state but also for the whole. She cited the fact that her Government has just taken over and that it did not have time to study the document so that no decisions could be taken.
Italy, Sweden, Finland and Spain have asked for an assessment of the impact of the implementation of measures against Turkey. Rome appeared tougher than the others, the group calling for an impact analysis. Estonia, Malta, requested further discussion of the measures, i.e. the document. The Netherlands, for its part, has been reluctant to take action. He referred to the Security Council's appeal to Turkey for what is happening in the region, suggesting that it is enough. In the same statement, it concerns the positive agenda and the need to defuse tension in the Eastern Mediterranean. Denmark said the maximum it can accept was the Borrell document.
On the other side, France noted that no action could be taken in response. He added that preparing a sanctions regime especially for Varosha is the best option. Positive were the reports from Austria and Ireland, Luxembourg. Austria has pointed out that our relations with third countries should not be placed above solidarity with a Member State. He clearly said that measures must be taken and that the issue of cutting off funds should be discussed. But Ireland, which agreed with Austria, also said Cyprus is not asking for anything unreasonable. He supported the adoption of a sanctions framework and sent a message to Ankara that if it does not change its stance, measures will be taken. "Otherwise we will not be serious. Solidarity is key", the Irish Foreign Minister said.
Belgium pointed out that while we should encourage progress in the Cyprus talks, it should not be excluded that measures are taken on the basis of the options paper. Solidarity with Cyprus and consider the possibility of new sanctions, he pointed out. Bulgaria argued that violations of international law are not acceptable and reiterated the well-known repeated position that it supports a solution to the Cyprus problem on the basis of the ICC and in line with the principles on which the EU is founded.
When the discussion seemed dead-end, the Foreign Minister of Cyprus intervened and said that as a compromise, we could accept a mandate to be given for the preparation of a special sanctions regime for Varosha, which will only be activated if Turkey does not accept the CBMs proposed by Anastasiades in relation to the city. What Nicosia proposed was essentially for a two-pronged approach, with a positive and negative aspect. In the end, the Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed great disappointment at the lack of practical solidarity. He referred to the fact that as a result of this attitude Turkey will largely be given the green light to continue its violations against the resumption of talks on the Cyprus issue, this time, unfortunately, with the responsibility of the EU.
In this position of Nicosia there were approaches that considered it reasonable. Josep Borrell has repeated a few times that the issue has been under discussion for six months and that it is time to make decisions. In the end, he expressed full understanding that the matter has been under discussion for six months, referred by the European Affairs Council to Permanent Representatives II and that it has not been concluded. There are, as he said, a number of Member States that want measures to be adopted now. He expressed sympathy for the disappointment that exists but "there is no consensus at the moment". Everyone, he said in the form of consolation, has expressed their solidarity with Cyprus. The only thing we can agree on, he said, is to refer the matter to Coreper II for consideration of the impact of the measures.
The result was that the interests did not allow decisions to be taken, a sanctions regime, in order to send the message to the occupying Turkey that if it does not abandon its aggressive, expansionist behaviour it will have a cost, sanctions will be imposed. Cyprus, however, is not a Ukraine!
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias in his statement said that Turkey continues to create faits accomplis. We should, he said, respond unitedly, in solidarity with Cyprus and in favour of international law and the resolutions of the UN Security Council. At the same time, the situation in relations between Greece and Turkey is not improving. As he explained to his counterparts, Turkey is now challenging the sovereignty of the islands of the eastern Aegean. If we do not set our limits now, we will have bigger problems in the future, the Greek Foreign Minister argued during the discussion.
