EU chair Britain seeks to mend fences with Cyprus
EU chair Britain dispatched one of its most senior government officials to Cyprus on Tuesday to soothe the ruffled feathers of Greek Cypriots over the perception that London has a bias towards EU candidate Turkey.
Relations between Britain and the internationally recognised Greek Cypriot government have been testy since last year when the Greek population of the former British colony rejected a British-backed United Nations plan to reunite the Greek and Turkish sides of the island that have been divided since 1974. "I don't think it is a secret that relations with Britain have suffered of late. We are very encouraged that there is the good will to renew relations," said Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos after signing a bilateral cooperation accord with visiting Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. The failure of the plan resulted in the Mediterranean island joining the European Union as a partitioned state. The Cypriot government has been highly critical of the way the EU presidency promoted Turkey's bid to join the EU ahead of access talks, which began earlier this month.
