On the 20th anniversary of Cyprus’ accession to the EU

Speech by AKEL Political Bureau member and MP, Andros Kafkalias, at the special session of the plenary session of the House of Representatives

 

10 May 2024, House of Representatives

The accession of the Republic of Cyprus to the European Union undoubtedly constituted a major milestone in our country’s modern history, which was achieved with the support of all the political forces and successive governments of the country, but also with the decisive role Greece played.

On this anniversary, it is worth recalling that Cyprus’ accession was achieved despite the fierce opposition and the threats that were issued by the occupying power, Turkey. In particular, the fact that the accession covered the entire territory of the Republic of Cyprus represented a strong protective shield for our statehood at a time when international law and the interests of small states were being challenged.

We also point out, as has been proven over time – and it is still the case today – that the credible will of the Republic of Cyprus and the Greek Cypriot side for the solution of the Cyprus problem is a powerful weapon in fulfilling our goals at a European level.

Furthermore, the course of events has shown that the accession process and Cyprus’ EU membership, combined with Turkey’s European ambitions, have created strong dynamics and mobility in the effort to solve the Cyprus problem.

In addition, the unifying elements contained in the acquis communautaire were used as a catalyst in the negotiations surrounding the Cyprus problem to repel the confederal and divisive elements that the Turkish Cypriot leadership was and is demanding in relation to the state structure of the future united Cyprus, thus resulting today in an agreed negotiating body of work that preserves the unity of our country.

We underline and acknowledge these facts because they were among the crucial facts that AKEL considered and took into consideration when it advocated Cyprus’ EU accession in the 1990s. We therefore had and still have as our first and foremost concern the cause of Cyprus, namely our people’s struggle for liberation and reunification.

Having said that, we note that we are far from those who cultivated illusions that EU membership would make the Greek Cypriots powerful, that membership would lead to a solution to our liking and for that reason we shouldn’t discuss any compromise with our Turkish Cypriot compatriots.

Or even, with those who – more recently – were cultivating illusions that the Greek Cypriot side will supposedly bring Turkey to its knees with the imposition of sanctions by the EU, ignoring the economic and geopolitical interests that structurally dominate the EU and in the way it really operates.

Twenty years after the Republic of Cyprus’ accession, all of us – the government, political forces and society – should and must realise what we should and should not expect from Brussels, but also what we can and must realistically assert as the Republic of Cyprus within the EU framework.

It is no secret that AKEL is the force that has a critical approach to the EU, its character, policies and structures, because we are the political force that stands for the vision of a united Europe that is fundamentally different, socially just, peaceful, democratic and ecological.

The Left has never rejected the prospect of European unification, since in our view regional unification represents an objective step forward in humanity’s historical development. On the contrary, only the nationalist forces – that is, those who constitute the ideological current of Euroscepticism – reject the vision of a united European continent in which peoples, nations, languages, religions and cultures should coexist peacefully.

So for AKEL, there is no dilemma – for or against a united Europe, with Cyprus within it. But – for us and for millions of people in Europe – the following crucial question arises: WHICH united Europe do we want?

This question is not theoretical or rhetorical. It is being raised every day concerning all European issues, major and minor, that not only affect, but determine the lives of all citizens across the EU.

In our opinion, there are three major questions today, three major challenges for Europe, for its states, peoples and citizens.

• Firstly. Europe today is confronted with a stark dilemma: War or peace?

Militarisation and the deeper coupling of the EU with NATO or a Europe pursuing an autonomous foreign policy that must be based on international law and peace?

Literally next to the European Union – in Ukraine and Gaza – two bloody wars are currently raging, threatening its own and the world’s security.

So what kind of Europe do we want in the face of these wars?

Do we want the one that chooses, together with NATO and the United States, to continue arming the Zelensky government with billions of euros worth of weapons instead of the one making use of its geopolitical power to take initiatives for peace to end the war and the Russian invasion?

Do we want the one that covers up Israel’s ongoing genocide against the Palestinians or a Europe with a firm stance in favour of a ceasefire and peace, implementing the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state?

• The second question concerns the core of EU policies:

Can the Union endure the increasingly growing inequalities between and within its member states?

Today, 95 million Europeans are at risk of poverty and at the same time, the EU’s five richest citizens have been increasing their wealth in recent years by EUR 6 million per hour.

So is it or is it not time to talk about the economic policies that have dominated the EU over the past decades and that are still dominant?

Austerity, privatisations, the deregulation of labour relations and the choices made by the European Central Bank – all of which are leading to explosive social contradictions and social despair.

We say that the needs of the peoples of Europe, modern social rights, collective agreements and trade union freedoms, affordable and social housing, dignified and stable jobs, public investment in social services and infrastructures, in the green transition, must at long last be the priority.

• The third challenge facing Europe and its peoples is now visible even to those who denied it in previous years. It is the rise of the far-right and fascism that threatens peace, democratic freedoms, human rights and working people’s gains on our continent. The peoples of Europe – just like the people of Cyprus – are called upon to remember their History before it is too late again. However, it is revealing that – as in our country, so at a European level – systemic forces that even call themselves staunchly Europeanist do not hesitate to openly engage with the far right.

It ought to shock every democrat that only the day before yesterday the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, opened the door to developing official cooperation between her own political group – the European People’s Party, that is – and the European far-right of Meloni and her like-minded colleagues.

History will be merciless with those who open windows and backdoors to forces that are poisoning European societies with hatred and threatening to set them back decades.

Apart from the minor and major differences that objectively exist around European policies and the very content of European integration, there are a number of issues on which we can meet and on which we ourselves must assert at a European level – even if certain forces will have to be opposing their European political parties.

• Firstly, we reiterate, on this occasion too, AKEL’s appeal to the government and the political forces to assert substantive European solidarity in the handling of the migration issue. Namely, Cyprus’ exemption from the Dublin Regulation which traps all refugees in their first EU arrival states, i.e. in Cyprus and the rest of the Mediterranean south. Cyprus should assert the implementation of emergency measures for the relocation of refugees to other European states and a permanent system of hosting refugees in member states according to the population size and the capacities of each country, as in the case of the refugees from Ukraine.
• Secondly. We have a historic duty as the political leadership of the country to defend Cyprus’ voice in the European institutions and to oppose the idea of the abolition of the veto in the areas where it still exists in the taking of decisions. When today 3 out of 4 Cypriots respond to the Eurobarometer that they don’t feel that Cyprus’ voice is heard in Europe, we have no choice but to take a strong and clear position [on this issue]. We mustn’t engage in half-truths, mincing our words or issuing statements that we are supposedly not dogmatic on the issue, as we heard from the government.
• Thirdly, we call on all of us to respond to citizens’ expectations for substantial democratic improvements in the functioning of the EU. The European Parliament’s role, the only institution elected directly by the people, should be strengthened by giving the European Parliament power to initiate legislation. At the same time, assigning a role to the European Parliament in the appointment and dismissal of the Board of Governors of the European Central Bank, would represent a positive step.
• Finally, we are all called upon to rise to the challenge of hosting the Cyprus Presidency of the European Council in the first half of 2026. The first and highly successful Cypriot Presidency – under the Christofias administration, in the second half of 2012 – proved that Cyprus’ political and technical potential can work together on major goals that can strengthen the country and its presence in Europe. We take this opportunity to reiterate our position that the Cyprus Presidency must prioritise the issues of labour and social rights of citizens and the climate crisis.

Twenty years after the Republic of Cyprus’ accession to the European Union, our country and people know that Cyprus’ place in Europe is not that of accepting whatever is put before us and without any assertions, that of an apologist or a presence that is focused solely on one theme or issue.

Cyprus’ position is that of an equal member that participates and asserts, that works and cooperates with the rest of Europeans, that co-shapes the decisions and the future of Europe.

It is the position of those who dare to envision a different Cyprus, in a different, better Europe.