Cyprus News Agency: News in English (PM), 99-06-20

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From: The Cyprus News Agency at <http://www.cyna.org.cy>

CONTENTS

[01] G8 - British Premier - Cyprus

[02] G8 - French President - Cyprus

[03] G8 - Cyprus - Reaction

1515:CYPPRESS:01

[01] G8 - British Premier - Cyprus

He pointed out, however, that the G8 backing for this process is supportive of other moves to reconcile the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities.

Asked by Antena TV how the G8 intends to continue displaying its interest in Cyprus, Blair said "all we can do in the G8 is to give our support to the moves that are made to reconcile the two communities."

Speaking at a press conference at the end of the G8 summit, he said "this is something in which the EU and Britain has an interest too."

"You will see it in the G8 text and we will do everything we can to push the process forward," he added, noting that he really could not say "anything more than that at this stage."

CNA MM/EC/1999

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1540:CYPPRESS:02

[02] G8 - French President - Cyprus

Cologne, Jun 20 (CNA) -- French President Jacques Chirac has expressed grave concern about the situation in Cyprus and said not much progress has been made towards the resolution of the problem.

Chirac also said the European Union (EU) does not wish to import unresolved disputes into its ranks.

Invited by CNA to outline his assessment of the extract on Cyprus of the G8 final communique, he said "the situation in Cyprus is of great concern, especially in view of Cyprus' candidacy for EU accession."

Speaking at a press conference at the close of the three-day summit, Chirac said the EU "does not wish to import any important conflicts, it wants them resolved beforehand." He expressed the EU desire not to "import the risk of any difficulties."

Outlining his own assessment on the final communique on Cyprus, he told CNA "if you want to know what I think, I do not think that this is one of the areas in which we have made most progress."

CNA MM/EC/1999

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

1830:CYPPRESS:03

[03] G8 - Cyprus - Reaction

Cologne, Jun 20 (CNA) -- The Cyprus government has expressed its satisfaction, in principle, to the reference to the question of Cyprus in the final communique the G8 summit adopted here today.

Initial reaction from diplomatic sources indicated the government was pleased with the final outcome.

The sources pointed to two references in the communique which they described as "improvement" on the text the G8 leaders had before them over the weekend.

The addition of the phrase "in accordance with relevant UN Security Council resolutions" to the anticipated invitation by the UN Secretary General to the Greek and Turkish Cypriot sides for negotiations is one of these points.

The other amendment, for the better, is the call to both sides to commit themselves to giving "full consideration of relevant UN resolutions and treaties."

The previous text, widely believed to have been put forward by the US, said UN resolutions and treaties serve "as a point of reference for the negotiations."

"We now have the appropriate G8 involvement through the UN Secretary General," the same sources told CNA.

They also referred to the principles the communique invites the two parties to commit themselves to, with regard to the negotiations the UN chief is expected to call in the autumn of 1999.

The preconditions which the Turkish Cypriot side puts for the resumption of the talks appear not to be accepted by the G8 in the sense that the two sides are called upon to go to negotiations without any preconditions.

The G8 extract on Cyprus is indicative not only of their interest and involvement but also of their intention to monitor the peace effort for a Cyprus settlement, the sources said.

Defining the time of the start of the talks (autumn 1999) and the hope for report in November of their outcome, at the summit of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, shows the continuous interest of the G8 and means "they will be monitoring this process," the same sources said.

They also note the commitment of both negotiating parties in good faith to "continue to negotiate until a settlement is reached".

This, they believe, would hopefully act in the direction of the Turkish Cypriot side, which has often resorted to applying various pretext to avoid substantive negotiation with a view to settle the Cyprus question.

The use of the wording relevant "treaties" in the communique is apparently a reference to the 1960 Treaties of Guarantee, Alliance and Establishment which established the Republic of Cyprus.

All indications are that the improved amendments to the draft was achieved through Russian and German intervention.

CNA MM/EC/1999

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY

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