Tivat, Montenegro. Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides on Friday called on Turkey to fulfil its obligations to advance its European Union accession process, as he arrived in Montenegro for the EU-Western Balkans Summit. He also highlighted progress made by candidate countries during Cyprus’ term holding the Council of the EU’s rotating presidency.
Progress during Cyprus presidency
Christodoulides said Cyprus’ presidency had given a significant boost to the accession process of candidate countries, particularly Montenegro, Albania, Moldova, and Ukraine.
He said preparations for Cyprus’ six-month term holding the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU began when he visited Montenegro in April last year. He added that there had been significant progress during Cyprus’ presidency after many years.
Message to candidate countries and Turkey
Christodoulides said the message to candidate countries was that when they meet their obligations, the EU is ready to respond.
He said the same message was being sent to Turkey, which continues to be a candidate country, adding that if Turkey fulfils its obligations, the EU and the Republic of Cyprus are ready to respond.
Turkey’s position
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last month that the country’s progress towards EU membership had been blocked for purely political reasons, largely related to the Cyprus problem.
He also said the EU had made erroneous and unfair decisions regarding Turkey’s candidacy over the nearly seven decades since Turkey first applied for association with the European Economic Community in 1959.
According to Erdogan, those decisions included double standards in Turkey’s accession process, a lack of sufficient support after the attempted coup d’état in 2016, and Turkey being ignored during the 1990s as the bloc moved towards large-scale enlargement.
Western Balkans and EU perspective
Christodoulides attended the summit in the Montenegrin coastal town of Tivat and said the substantial progress seen in the accession process during Cyprus’ presidency, especially in the western Balkan countries, sent a positive message.
He said that message had been sent both to the peoples of those countries and to other actors which, he said, sought to take advantage of stagnation in the accession processes and distance the region from the EU.
Christodoulides said the western Balkans belong to Europe and that Cyprus’ presidency, through its actions and alongside the efforts of the candidate states, had produced very significant results.
