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Cyprus PIO: News Update in English, 99-03-03
From: The Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office Server at <http://www.pio.gov.cy/>
Wednesday, 3 March 1999
CONTENTS
- [01] UN Secretary General hopes that process for a solution will move
forward
- [02] Cyprus' EU accession not conditional on political settlement, says
Britain
[01] UN Secretary General hopes that process for a solution will move
forward
The UN Secretary General Mr Kofi Annan stated today that the Cyprus
government's decision not to deploy the S-300 missiles in Cyprus has helped
reduce tension.
In a press conference given in New York today, Mr Annan stressed that "we
will continue our efforts to try to seek a solution to the conflict. It is
not an easy conflict and as you know we have lived with it quite a while.
In the course of this year, we may be able to move the process forward a
bit more", he said.
[02] Cyprus' EU accession not conditional on political settlement, says
Britain
British Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Ms Joyce
Quin reiterated yesterday that a political solution to the Cyprus problem
is not a precondition for the Republic's accession to the European
Union.
Ms Quin, who was speaking at the Royal Institute for International Affairs
on EU enlargement yesterday, stressed that "the EU process will reinforce
efforts to find a settlement on the island".
Moreover she added that "we do hope negotiations for accession will provide
a catalyst in terms of trying to make progress towards a settlement of the
Cyprus problem".
The British Minister also expressed Britain's full support to the efforts
by the UN Secretary General's Special Representative in Cyprus Dame Ann
Hercus, as well as to provisions contained in the recent UN resolutions on
Cyprus (1218 and 1219).
From the Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office (PIO) Server at http://www.pio.gov.cy/
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