Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-12-04-Speech-3-051"
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"en.20021204.3.3-051"2
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"Mr President, I would like to address the major risk I think the Council meeting in Copenhagen may comprise in terms of the EU as a peace project. All of us here are talking about EU unification. We are all talking about the historic decision in Copenhagen. Could the EU as a peace project be destroyed in Copenhagen, however? I am sure that many members will feel that this question is not relevant, but I think it is.
The EU has been incredibly successful in bringing people and states closer together in the European Union. We now have, however, a candidate country which is first in line to become a member of the European Union, namely Cyprus. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall, Nicosia has been Europe’s divided capital. Following the reunification of Germany, it is Cyprus which is the divided country in Europe.
The European Parliament has clearly stated that it would like to see the Turkish occupying forces withdrawn from northern Cyprus. In this situation, it is being discussed at a very high level in the Council whether Turkey should be given a date for a meeting where a new date for membership negotiations for this country would be set. I therefore turn particularly to the Danish Presidency and ask how will the public, how will the Cypriots and how will all of us together view this situation in which a country such as Turkey is to be given a date for starting membership negotiations while there are still 30 000 Turkish soldiers in northern Cyprus? Is this the EU as a peace project?
I would really like to dwell on this subject and wonder whether we can imagine a country negotiating with the European Union while at the same time unquestionably occupying 37% of another Member State. This must be investigated in Copenhagen. If it is conceivable that the EU, as a peace project, should permit Turkey to start negotiations without the Cyprus conflict being resolved, this means that a Member State can be occupied by a country seeking membership of the Union and actually negotiating with the Commission.
I would like to see this question investigated. Let us not be blinded by the charm offensive on the part of Turkey. Let us look at the hard facts which say that one country, Cyprus, is on its way into the Union and another country which occupies 37% of that country wants to start negotiations. Is this reasonable? Is this the EU as a peace project?"@en1
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