Comments of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the paragraph on Cyprus within the Summit Conclusions of the EU Council

The paragraph on Cyprus within the Summit Conclusions, which was published yesterday by the EU Council, confirms that the European Union welcomes the resumption of the negotiations on the basis of the Joint Declaration agreed upon by the two Leaders and supports a comprehensive and viable solution to be reached within the United Nations framework.
It should be recalled that the joint statement by Mr. Jose Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission, and Mr. Herman Van Rompuy, the President of the European Council, which was made following the Joint Declaration of the two Leaders, expressed that a settlement will be included in EU Law. It should also be recalled that the expression within the said statement concerning the stepping up of the assistance provided by the European Commission towards the harmonization of the Turkish Cypriot side to the EU should turn into concrete steps.
Within this framework, the TRNC Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterates that the European Union needs to continue to monitor the negotiations which are currently underway and that some elements of a future agreement will eventually need to become Primary Law.
The TRNC Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to work uninterruptedly for the conclusion of the negotiations, which are conducted within the UN framework, to reach a federal solution based on the political equality of the two peoples and the equal status of the Turkish Cypriot Constituent State and the Greek Cypriot Constituent State.

Lefkoşa,
21 March 2014