Fitto says Cyprus settlement is essential for lasting de-escalation in eastern Mediterranean

Nicosia, Cyprus. European Commission Cyprus problem envoy Raffaele Fitto said on Thursday that the European Union attaches “particular importance” to efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem. Addressing a European Parliament debate on “persistent Turkish provocations” in the eastern Mediterranean and Aegean seas, he said a comprehensive settlement was essential for sustainable regional de-escalation.

Cyprus talks and EU-Turkey cooperation

Fitto said sustainable de-escalation in Greek-Turkish relations and across the eastern Mediterranean was essential for regional stability and security, as well as for advancing EU-Turkey relations in a “phased, proportionate and reversible manner”.

He said that, in further deepening cooperation with Turkey, the EU attached particular importance to the resumption of Cyprus settlement talks and Turkey’s constructive engagement in that process.

“This is in the strategic interest of the EU and in line with the mandate we have from the European Council. We must not forget that the whole of the island of Cyprus is part of the EU and that Turkish Cypriots are EU citizens,” he said.

Commitment to a UN-framework settlement

Taking the floor again at the end of the debate, Fitto said that “without a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus issue, it will be impossible to bring sustainable de-escalation in the eastern Mediterranean”.

He reiterated the EU’s full commitment to a comprehensive settlement within the United Nations framework, in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions and the principles on which the EU is founded.

He also affirmed his commitment, as the Commission’s Cyprus problem envoy, to supporting the process.

Regional security and strategic importance

Earlier in his address, Fitto described the eastern Mediterranean as a region of geostrategic importance for EU stability and security, where the bloc has a strong presence through its member states Greece and Cyprus.

He said the region faced major challenges receiving attention from the European Council and, in some cases, the UN Security Council. It hosts one of the main migratory routes, along with major trade and connection routes to the EU, and bears the brunt of climate change, he added.

For those reasons, Fitto said, the EU attaches great importance to developments in Greece-Turkey relations and to the overall situation in the Aegean Sea and eastern Mediterranean.