The Nordic Countries support the Cyprus reunification negotiations
The frozen negotiations for reunification of Cyprus were resumed after the leaders of Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities on the island adopted a joint declaration to re-launch the negotiations in February. The chief negotiators of both communities also attended the seminar, held in Brussels on 6-7 March, that addressed the economic benefits of potential reunification. The Seminar was organised in collaboration between the Nordic Countries (Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark) and the PRIO Cyprus Center.
The conclusion drawn at the seminar held in Brussels was that economic benefits deriving from potential reunification of Cyprus would be visible in everyday lives of the Cypriots.
According to the PRIO Cyprus Center, which has been studying the positive impacts of reunification for the economy and trade of the island, besides tourism, as an obvious one, other sectors of the economy expected to benefit too include the construction sector; retail and wholesale; professional services; and education. The debates at the seminar were conducted with PRIO’s “The Cyprus Peace Dividend Revisited” report as the basis, which business representatives responded to from the perspective of their own sector.
"The seminar and the PRIO report provided an outlook of the economy of a unified Cyprus. They confirmed that the competitiveness and productivity of Cyprus would improve and open up new opportunities for the economy of the island as a whole,” noted Anu Saarela, Ambassador of Finland to Cyprus.
Finland has long ties to the Cyprus dispute. After the relations between the two population groups of the island, which gained its independence in 1960, became critical in 1963, the first UN Special Representative in the region was Sakari Tuomioja. Over the past decades, over 10,000 Finns served in the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) between 1964-2005. This year we commemorate the 50-year path of the mission, launched in 1964 and still continuing today.
“Together with the other Nordic Countries, Finland gives its full support for the reunification negotiations,” Ambassador Saarela stated.
Dozens of representatives and experts of trade and industry in Cyprus, EU Commission, and Nordic cooperation partners attended the high-quality seminar. It brought special value to the debates that the seminar was attended by the chief negotiators of the reunification talks Andreas Mavroyiannis and Kudret Özersay, who received a strong message about the positive economic impacts of reunification, and the support of business leaders for the talks.
- PRIO: The Cyprus Peace Dividend Revisited(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window) The report, the draft of which was addressed at the seminar, will be published in its final form later.
- The joint statement of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)
- Ministry for Foreign Affairs’ news on Cyprus(Link to another website.)