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‘Veto is a choice for every member state’
By Jean Christou


PRESIDENT Tassos Papadopoulos left for Brussels yesterday telling reporters at Larnaca airport that negotiations on Turkey’s accession course would go to the wire but that he would strive to achieve whatever was necessary and right for Cyprus.

Asked if a veto was still a possibility, Papadopoulos said the question was more whether conditions would be created that would necessitate the use of a veto. The veto was a choice that every member state had, he said.

“Certainly what is indicated are hard negotiations until the last moment. I cannot tell if the Council’s deliberations will go on normally or if we will face a crisis. What I certainly know is that negotiations will be very hard until the last minute and will depend on many imponderable factors and on the positions of other countries, that they will certainly not tell us,” he said.

“We have taken every action we could take, we have made contacts, discussions, proposals and until the last moment we will strive to achieve those we consider as necessary. I will try to do what is right for Cyprus, what I deem is for the benefit of the Cyprus people, both short-term and long-term.”

Papadopoulos said he had spoken on Wednesday night with Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and that he also had the support of other countries.

“The issue is if this support, that what we ask for is rational and justified, will be incorporated in the decision taken. All this depends on a lot of factors,” he added.

“It seems that Turkey has received assurances from powerful countries that it will be granted a date without conditions, and we have received assurances that Turkey will have to comply with certain preconditions,” he said.

Papadopoulos said that discussions in Brussels would likely fall in between the parameters of the two positions, and that it would depend on what other countries decided.

He said there were three scenarios: compromise, difficult negotiations, or crisis.
Asked if Cyprus would consider the signing of the protocol to extend Turkey’s customs union with the 10 new member states as adequate, Papadopoulos said: “No one begins negotiations by outlining his final limits, nor does he begin by putting unreasonable demands. You have to find the middle road.”

He said the situation would also be shaped by the reactions of other countries
“This is a discussion between the 25 heads of states, and each country has its own positions, with its own degree of intensity and insistence,” he said.