EU: The European Union reaffirmed plans to admit a divided Cyprus despite the failure of UN-brokered peace talks and warned Turkey that its own attempt to join the EU could now suffer.
The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, expressed regret at the breakdown of talks but said it was not too late for both sides to strike a deal. "The Commission encourages all parties concerned, and in particular Turkey, to strive to achieve a settlement," it said in a statement.
Commission spokesman Mr Jean-Christophe Filori said the Greek Cypriot government would now sign the accession treaty on behalf of the whole island at a planned ceremony in Athens on April 16th. "This in no way prevents, if there is any subsequent agreement, the possibility of there being adaptations so that we can have the whole island inside the EU," Mr Filori said.
But he warned Turkey: "If by the time of the report at the end of 2004 there is still no settlement on Cyprus, we will be facing this rather weird situation where a candidate country knocking at the door does not recognise one of our own member-states. It appears difficult in this situation to envisage the start of accession negotiations with Turkey," he said.