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FAMAGUSTA GAZETTE 24.APR.09
Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt says there is now a unique window of opportunity for settling the Cyprus issue.

Carl Bildt, who paid a one-day official visit in Cyprus, held talks with Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou and later said that twenty years after the fall of the wall in Berlin their is still a divided capital in Europe, Nicosia, and that should not be acceptable to anyone.

He added that the effort now underway in order to overcome this division is of profound importance for Cyprus and the wider region of the Eastern Mediterranean, but has European and global significance.

He also said it would not be easy to find a solution, but added that it is important to find one, because a solution brings positive dynamics while a non solution brings negative dynamics for Cyprus and the region.

Mr Bildt said the evaluation of progress in Turkey's EU accession talks will definitely take place during Sweden's presidency of the European Union at the end of this year.

This will include the implementation of the Ankara Protocol which envisages that Turkey opens its ports and airports to Cyprus ships an planes.

He stressed that if by the end of the year Turkey had not met its obligations, there would unavoidably be consequences. - Copyright © Famagusta Gazette 2009