[autom.vertaling] De EU spoort Cyprus aan om V.N.- vredesplan goed te keuren (en)
The European Union has strongly urged the Greek and Turkish communities of Cyprus to "seize the opportunity" for peace presented by President of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, earlier this week.
The BBC reports that Mr Annan is seeking broad agreement for his proposal before the Copenhagen Summit in December where European leaders will have to make a decision on the entry of Cyprus to the EU.
The UN plan was presented to Greek Cypriot leader, Glafcos Clerides, and Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash, on Monday. It advocates a loose Swiss-style confederation of two states on the island, which would be joined as a "common state". There would be a rotating presidency and a two chamber parliament with special voting safeguards for the Turkish Cypriot community.
EU Enlargement Commissioner, Günter Verheugen, welcomed the plan and said he was hopeful that a settlement would be reached before the summit. "All efforts should be undertaken to make use of the very limited time left," he urged.
Positive signs
Both Le Figaro and the Financial Times report positive signals so far from Ankara and Athens. The Greek Foreign Minister, Georges Papandreou, is reportedly happy that the plan guarantees unique representation, sovereignty and nationality on the divided island.
In Turkey, the leader of the recently victorious AKP Party, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, believes that a peace agreement with Cyprus will accelerate Turkey's chances for EU membership. "Solving the Cyprus issue would not just accelerate the EU process but would also be a concrete and useful step to overcoming many problems between Turkey and Greece," he said.
Mr Erdogan is currently carrying out a tour of European capitals to rally support for Turkey's membership of the EU. He is expected to arrive in Athens next week.