No Plan B for Cyprus: Füle

NICOSIA - Anatolia News Agency

EU Minister Egemen Bağış (R) gives a press confence with EU Commisisoner for Enlargement Stefan Füle in this 2011 photo. ‘Reunification of Cyprus is not a dream but an opportunity to be seized,’ the commissioner says in Nicosia. AFP photo

Greek Cyprus’ rotating presidency of the EU Council will not hinder reunification talks, EU Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Füle said June 20, following a meeting with top Turkish Cypriot officials.

“This visit provides me with an opportunity to express my belief that Greek Cyprus’ EU post will not contradict with the continuation of reunification talks,” Füle told reporters in Nicosia during the inauguration ceremony of an EU-funded marketplace, while insisting that there is no alternative to reunification.

“The worst scenario is the halt of negotiations. There is no ‘Plan B,’ and the benefits of a possible solution are greater than the concessions the leaders would make,” the commissioner said, urging both sides to carry on with reunification talks during the Cyprus presidency. The EU Council presidency will positively affect works designed for the solution of the Cyprus problem, Füle said. “Reunification of Cyprus means a united Europe. And it is not a dream but an opportunity to be seized.”

The Greek Cypriot administration will assume the EU term presidency on July 1. Füle met with several politicians and opposition parties, including Turkish Cypriot President Derviş Eroğlu and Prime Minister İrsen Küçük, after earlier talks in Greek Cyprus.