EU: The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, has said that the EU has yet to decide how it will respond if either part of Cyprus votes No in a referendum next Saturday on the unification of the island. Mr Cowen said that if the referendum fails, the Greek part of Cyprus will join the EU with nine other states on May 1st.
The Commissioner responsible for Enlargement, Mr Günter Verheugen, hinted last week that if Greek Cypriots rejected the unification plan, the EU could reconsider the status of Northern Cyprus.
"I would find it rather unfair that the Greek Cypriot community would enjoy benefits of membership, Turkey would enjoy benefits of entering the pre-accession phase, and only the Turkish Cypriots would get nothing," he said.
Mr Verheugen said that the Commission would first consider how to end the economic isolation of Northern Cyprus, which has been subject to an international trade embargo for 30 years.
Officials say that the EU could also consider recognising Turkish Cypriot travel documents if Greek Cypriots reject the referendum proposals.
EU foreign ministers did not discuss Cyprus during their meeting in Tullamore but Turkey's Foreign Minister, Mr Abdullah Gul, raised the issue at a lunch following the meeting.
Mr Gul said later that the EU had shown great sympathy for Turkey's approach to the Cyprus issue and claimed support for his call for a better deal for Northern Cyprus if the referendum fails in the Greek part of the island.
"It has been underlined that if the Turkish side says Yes and the Greek side says No, then the by-laws that will be applied to the Turkish side should be revised while the Greek Cypriots enter the EU. The Turkish part should not be punished. The regulations imposed after such negativity should not be understood as if they penalise the Turkish side," he said.