00:00The conflict over Gibraltar is one of the oldest in Europe.
00:03Another one is the one over Cyprus.
00:05Since 1974, the island state and the eastern Mediterranean
00:09has been divided between the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus,
00:13an EU member state,
00:15and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,
00:18which is recognized only by Turkey.
00:21Diplomatic attempts at reuniting the island have been plenty,
00:24but nothing came out of it.
00:26Now there are new negotiations on the agenda,
00:28but already overshadowed by the Northern Cypriot rejection
00:32of a new EU special representative for Cyprus.
00:35To make sense of all this,
00:37I'm glad to have Marilena Rauna by my side now,
00:40the Deputy EU Affairs Minister of Cyprus.
00:43Thanks for coming on the show today.
00:45A pleasure, Stefan. Good morning. Good to be here.
00:47Yeah, good morning.
00:48First of all, what do you make of this rejection
00:50by the Turkish Cypriot side of the new EU special representative?
00:55Well, let us start by saying the following.
00:56When Cyprus acceded to the European Union in 2004, Stefan,
01:01it acceded in the entirety of its territory.
01:04It does not exercise effective control in the occupied areas,
01:07where Turkey occupies 37% of the territory,
01:11but it is European territory.
01:13So that, as a starting point,
01:15there is now a renewed effort by the Secretary-General of the UN
01:20to resume negotiations on the Cyprus question,
01:24in line always with the UN Security Council resolutions.
01:28Now, the European Union has a very important role to play in this effort,
01:34in supporting the efforts of the UN Secretary-General.
01:38Why? Because the Cyprus question is a European question,
01:43and reunifying the last divided member state of the European Union
01:47will not only be transformative for Cyprus,
01:51it will also be transformative for the region of the eastern Mediterranean,
01:56sending a resounding message for peace and stability when we desperately need it.
02:01In the context of this, President von der Leyen appointed Vice-President Fido as special representative.
02:10This follows the appointment, if you remember, of Mr. Johannes Hand, who had this role.
02:17Let us say that this is not the first time that we have an EU personality.
02:22It is, though, the first time that we have a political personality.
02:26And the aim there is to support the efforts.
02:31It is not to take sides, but it is very much to support reunification,
02:37and everyone stands to benefit from that.
02:39All Cypriots and, of course, EU-Turkey relations.
02:43Marina, I've got to ask you this.
02:45The island has been divided for more than 50 years.
02:48There have been talks that didn't lead to anything.
02:52Why should anybody believe that this time will be different?
02:57Because conditions are different right now.
03:00The geopolitical environment is different.
03:02We have a new President, Christo Dulides, assumed office three years ago.
03:08He made it a priority to re-energize the efforts.
03:13And I think that is the reason why we have these developments
03:17and the efforts of the Secretary General for a new effort.
03:21And then another important dimension, Stefan, is EU-Turkey relations.
03:29Turkey wishes to come closer to the European Union.
03:33Cyprus is the first member state that would like to see a positive agenda between the EU and Turkey.
03:40Why?
03:41Because we cannot change geography.
03:43Turkey will always be our neighbor, and we want to have good neighborly relations.
03:50Quick one, Marina, a quick one.
03:52And so it would also benefit the EU-Turkey relations at a time when Turkey wants it, the EU wants
03:58it.
03:58Marina, we have 30 seconds left.
03:59Do you still believe in reunification, or has it become just a political slogan?
04:04We absolutely believe in reunification.
04:07We prove it.
04:08President Russo Dulides proves it in action.
04:09We cannot accept that there is a European member state that is still divided and under occupation.
04:18And the EU is there to support these efforts.
04:22We will be doing our atmos to reunify Cyprus.
04:25Today is where we look at local landowners.
04:26quien se wil Sverige
04:26Eine
04:26Un Rashid
04:27E
04:27E
04:27E
04:27E
04:28E
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