by Nikitas » Mon Mar 26, 2012 2:01 pm
If the proposal is serious the seriousness will be demonstrated by its implementation, and that is when things get interesting.
The population of Varosi was 45000 people. I am assuming that half will return if and when it is opened. So we have 25000 (approx.) EU CITIZENS who will be registered as returnees. Those people, under EU rules, have the right to set up their own municipality as they choose. Every precedent that Turkey has engineered for the minority in Thrace will have to apply in this case. Then they will want to set up their own schools, churches, businesses. As EU citizens they will be subject to EU tax regulations, ie VAT, which they will have to charge each other, and remit to...... whom? The EU takes part of the VAT receipts to finance itself.
The EU will want to inspect and verify that the conditions in the town, on simple matters like biological filtering of waste etc, are in accordance with its set rules. No doubt the TC authorities will propose that the town is under their control, to which the retort is that the municipality is made up entirely of EU citizens in an EU member nation, therefore EU rules apply and the confusion will be a wonderful surreal play.
It is one more manifestation of the Turkish dream to deny statehood to Cyprus, to dissolve the RoC. That kite won't fly.
The Varosiotes would be well advised to accept the return of their town. Move in, repair with EU advisers and consultants, assert their municipal rights, using the same arguments the TCs have used since 1958 to establish separation of their municipalities from the Republic. The trunc will lose when it comes to a local community within the EU asserting its rights against a big bully. Handled right it could be a major victory for the local community. This is not just the RoC against Turkey, this is the community of Varosiotes against Turkey. The media will have a field day. Try to imagine some of the headlines in Bild, Spiegel and Le Monde.
Again, the proviso is "if it is handled right".
Of course the more likely reality is that the Varosi announcement is a crude device to plant division among the GCs over the EU presidency. But this is not a Cypriot matter, and those that cannot see this are super stupid. This is a prestige matter for the EU. The EU cannot back down from its established procedures. Even if the RoC were to unilaterally disown the rotating presidency, the EU would find a way to assert its precedures just to show it has international personality and presence.
