News from Cyprus

CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

Commission urges Cyprus leaders to step up efforts to relaunch negotiations

The European Commission has urged the leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities in Cyprus to step up their efforts to relaunch negotiations on a comprehensive settlement under UN auspices. In its Enlargement Strategy 2007 Report issued along with the Progress Reports for the EU candidate countries (Croatia, FYROM and Turkey) and EU potential candidates (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo), the Commission said it was implementing the instrument of financial support for encouraging the economic development of the Turkish Cypriot community, facilitating the future re-unification of the island. “Enhanced use of the Green Line Regulation, which allows for the movement of persons and goods throughout Cyprus, will serve the interests of both communities,” the Commission said, adding that “the regulation on direct trade with the northern part of Cyprus, proposed by the Commission to further reduce the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community remains to be adopted by the Council.”