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Cyprus can help the EU close the ‘power vacuum’ in the Eastern Mediterranean | News

 


Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides speaks with The Associated Press during an interview at his office in Nicosia, Cyprus, August 5, 2020. [Giorgos Christoforou/ANA-MPA]

The European Union must do more to fill a power vacuum in the eastern Mediterranean caused by a perceived US disengagement from the region, and Cyprus is ready to host an EU task force to achieve this goal, the minister said on Wednesday. of Foreign Affairs of this island country.

Nikos Christodoulides said the EU had so far not used its vast “soft power” to position itself as a major player in a region full of problems such as terrorism and illegal immigration.

The Cypriot official said the EU should pursue a more muscular policy with a larger military footprint in the region, and praised France for supporting this line. French President Emmanuel Macron is organizing a summit of the seven EU Mediterranean countries on September 10 to discuss developments in the Eastern Mediterranean.

“The EU should have more hard power tools in its toolbox,” Christodoulides told The Associated Press in an interview.

Due to its proximity to the Middle East, Christodoulides said that EU member Cyprus could serve as a base of operations for humanitarian and other missions in the bloc. Cyprus is 180 kilometers (120 miles) from Lebanon and could serve as a hub for the EU to provide assistance in the wake of Tuesday’s deadly explosion in Beirut.

“The EU says it cares about the region. But to show that interest it has to show it through actions, not just words,” Christodoulides said. “We would welcome a European task force in Cyprus for the region.”

Christodoulides said the Cypriot government was in negotiations with “several countries” having a “particular interest” in the eastern Mediterranean to offer its facilities, but not as a launching pad for offensive military action.

The Cypriot official said Turkey is making full use of the power vacuum to achieve its ambition to achieve regional supremacy, in combination with a parallel goal of assuming leadership of the Islamic world.

He cited as an example the current search for hydrocarbons in Turkey in waters where Cyprus claims exclusive economic rights. Turkey is also engaged militarily in Libya, Syria and Iraq.

Turkey does not recognize Cyprus – which is ethnically divided between Greek and Turkish Cypriots – as a state and claims 44% of its exclusive economic zone on its own. Since 1974, Turkey has occupied a third of the island after an invasion triggered by a failed coup d’état by Greek Cypriot supporters of union with Greece.

The EU has repeatedly condemned Turkey’s drilling activities in Cypriot waters and imposed sanctions on the country while supporting the Cypriot government’s invitation to Ankara to negotiate a maritime border agreement. Christodoulides said Cyprus expects the EU to urge Turkey to sit down for talks.

“Some in Brussels have the impression that the EU needs Turkey more than Turkey needs the EU. This is a mistaken impression,” Christodoulides said.

The minister said there could be no military solution to the heightened regional tensions. But Cyprus “should seriously consider” the possibility of creating a naval deterrent as a means of rallying the international community to pressure Turkey to stop its provocations.

Christoulides said Turkey had an open invitation to join a network of evolving, energy-based partnerships that Cyprus has forged with countries in the Eastern Mediterranean, including Israel, Egypt and Jordan – both that Ankara respects international law.

He praised the closer ties with the United States, enshrined in legislation approved by Congress, but noted that this does not necessarily mean that the two countries agree on all issues.

The Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act provides for the lifting of a decades-long US arms embargo on Cyprus, on condition that the country no longer accepts Russian warships in its ports.

“There are issues you have different approaches to and issues you disagree on,” Christodoulides said.

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades last week asked his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to intercede with Turkey to help ease tensions over gas exploration.

“We want to solve our problems with Turkey and we have to recognize that at present President Putin is probably the international leader who has the best relationship with (Turkish) President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan,” Christodoulides said. .

[AP]

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