Cable reveals EU's hard feelings on Greek Cyprus accession
The European Union had to accept Greek Cyprus' accession despite its leader's public campaign against a UN plan to reunite the island because member Greece would have otherwise blocked the membership of other countries, a former EU official was quoted as saying in a US diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks.
Chris Patten, the EU's former external relations commissioner, noted during a meeting with officials from the US Embassy in Brussels that “some of the accession countries were foisted on the EU as part of a larger bargain.” He then cited Greek Cyprus, saying it “probably should not have been admitted” as former Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos' behavior prior to the referendum indicated. “But the Greeks insisted on Cypriot admission as the price of agreeing to some of the northern European candidates,” the document, dated April 28, 2004, reads. The EU allowed Greek Cyprus to join as a full member a few days after the Greek Cypriots overwhelmingly rejected the UN plan in 2004.
Papadopoulos, who died months after losing elections for a new term in 2008, had publicly campaigned for a “no” vote in the referendum. The EU’s then top enlargement official, Guenter Verheugen, said a few days after the vote that he “felt cheated” by the Greek Cypriot government.
The leaked cable shows Patten was also upset by the Greek Cypriot vote, calling it a sad reflection of the realities of EU enlargement. He was disturbed by Papadopoulos’ personality, too, recalling allegations that Papadopoulos had been involved in laundering money for former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. “Some of the new members were people you would ‘only want to dine with if you have a very long spoon.’ Not that the EU should have been surprised by Papadopolous’ behavior, Patten said, since they knew well who they were dealing with: Milosevic’s lawyer,” reads the document.
The former EU foreign policy chief also tells US diplomats that Croatia, now a candidate, is more prepared than either Bulgaria or Romania, which joined the bloc in 2007, according to the leaked cable. Patten also comments on Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying that “he seems a completely reasonable man when discussing the Middle East or energy policy, but when the conversation shifts to Chechnya or Islamic extremism, Putin’s eyes turn to those of a killer.”
But I am sure and if history proves me right many facism G/C will overtime will change the text on the cable leak and then build propaganda around it and will choose to forget. The double standards of the EU as I have always said.
