God give us TCs strength to see these negotiations to the end of the year, thats all I can say!
Swedish minister stumped over Cyprus protocol
By Stefanos Evripidou
OUTSPOKEN Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt yesterday described how the dreaded protocol of a Cyprus visit had him flummoxed over whom he would be meeting and how.
Before even setting foot on the island, Bildt, who is no stranger to controversy when it comes to Cyprus, said how the visit would go was so vague as to be “written in the stars”. The candid statement was posted on his personal blog.
Bildt, who was due in Cyprus last night, is scheduled to meet President Demetris Christofias and his Cypriot counterpart Marcos Kyprianou today, mainly to talk about the Cyprus problem.
Breaking from the traditional silence or the ‘diplomatic speak’ that usually precedes such visits, Bildt pointed out that “a game was being played out” before his visit, with hints being given to him as to who he should and should not meet, and the various implications of his decisions.
“Exactly how the visit is going to turn out and who I will be meeting seems to be written in the stars… But I am there to see and listen, and those who want to talk to me, I will listen attentively,” Bildt wrote in his blog.
But there was no reference on the blog entry as to whether Bildt would be meeting Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat. It is well known in diplomatic circles that the government frowns on such visits.
When the Swedish EU Presidency coordinator came to Cyprus earlier this year, Christofias refused to meet with him due to his meeting with Talat in the north at the “presidential palace”.
This followed a gaffe by former President Tassos Papadopoulos in 2007 directly involving Bildt. Papadopoulos raised eyebrows after he implied that Bildt’s favourable stance on the thorny issue of direct trade for Turkish Cypriots was different to that of the Swedish government. It took until late last year to mend fences with Stockholm.
Sweden, and Bildt himself, will take over the EU Presidency in July, meaning the Swedes will be running and coordinating the EU agenda until the end of the year. It is widely believed that the two community leaders are preparing for a final push in the talks during the final quarter of the year.
This will coincide with a crucial EU evaluation report due out in December on Turkey’s EU accession path, and specifically on whether it has met its obligations to Cyprus.
In his blog ‘Alla Dessa Dagar’ Bildt also referred to the fact that getting to Nicosia was not an easy task.
He travelled with the Turkey’s chief negotiator for EU accession Egemen Bagis from Stockholm to Istanbul and then had to take the long way round to Nicosia, he said.
Bildt highlighted the importance of the peace negotiations in Cyprus.
One observer noted that Bildt seemed to be expressing his frustration at wanting to come to the island and get a feel for the views in the place but being held back by the problem of who he should meet or not.
“Everybody has a wish on who he should meet. But Bildt is not a man you tell ‘if you meet me don’t meet someone else’. He’s very senior,” he said.
Bildt is considered to have one of the best international networks among all foreign ministers in the EU.
As one commentator on his blog said: “Hope you find a way out of the impasse in Cyprus - an irritating stone in the EU shoe!”
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2009
