President Nikos Christodoulides and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen discussed Cyprus’ path towards joining Europe’s border-free Schengen area when they met in Paris on Tuesday, deputy government spokesman Yiannis Antoniou said.
“The Cyprus issue and the full integration of the Republic of Cyprus into the Schengen area were at the focus of the meeting,” he said, before adding that Christodoulides had thanked von der Leyen for the European Commission’s “decisive role” in efforts to bring about a resumption of negotiations in earnest to solve the Cyprus problem.
Additionally, he said, von der Leyen had told Christodoulides that the appointment of European Commission Vice President for Cohesion Raffaele Fitto as the commission’s envoy for the Cyprus problem “reflects the European Commission’s strong commitment to the reunification of Cyprus”.
He added that von der Leyen had said the appointment “confirms the European Union’s interest in the Cyprus problem” and that the pursuit of a solution to the Cyprus problem “is considered a priority issue”.
“She also said that in this direction, the EU will use all available tools, given that the Republic of Cyprus will continue to be a member state of the union even after the resolution of the Cyprus problem,” Antoniou said.
On the matter of Cyprus’ efforts to join the Schengen area, he said that “satisfaction was expressed over the fact that the Republic of Cyprus has successfully completed all technical obligations and now only the political decision remains to be taken”.
He said von der Leyen offered “support for the full integration of Cyprus into the Schengen area as soon as possible”.
As the Cyprus Mail has been informed, von der Leyen has personally been one of the main driving forces behind the push for Cyprus to join the Schengen zone.
However, diplomats on the island have, on the condition of anonymity, expressed various reservations about the feasibility of the move and the impact it may have on the Cyprus problem.
This is in part because many believe that the Cypriot government’s insistence that the the Schengen zone’s new digital entry/exit system will not be implemented at the nine crossing points which connect the island’s two sides will not be possible in reality.
As such, Cyprus would likely be required to either effectively turn the Green Line into a hard border or have Europe face an administrative breakdown in the tracking of people entering and leaving the Schengen zone.
Given this to be the case, Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman has said that it is “extremely important” for the Turkish Cypriot side to be involved in Cyprus’ accession to the Schengen zone.
He also warned that Schengen accession “has the potential to bring about many complications, especially in the area of freedom of movement” regarding regarding Turkish Cypriots, especially those who are not citizens of the Republic of Cyprus.
As such, he said, “it is extremely important for the Turkish Cypriot side to be involved in this process to bring the complications which may arise in the future onto the European Union’s agenda in a timely manner, and to produce solutions for them”.
