Rehn controversy over Virgin Birth



Rehn stirs up controversy over ‘virgin birth’


Pledges full support

for both sides


By Elias Hazou


EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli But Rehn briefly - and inadvertently - stirred up a hornet’s nest in Cyprus this week after being asked a question on the notorious "virgin birth."

Rehn was speaking at the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee, when he told MEPs that the EU stood behind the new peace process on the island.

"We shall fully support both communities on the island to make the necessary compromises," he said.

Rehn welcomed last Friday’s meeting between the leaders of the two communities. Their joint statement, he said, "shows that the process towards a settlement of the Cyprus issue under UN auspices is well underway," he said.

It was also a "positive sign that the leaders agree on the basic parameters of a united Cyprus as a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation with political equality, as defined by relevant Security Council resolutions."

Hailed

Rehn hailed Christofias and Talat’s agreement to consider civilian and military confidence-building measures and to pursue the opening of further crossing points on the island.

"I encourage the leaders of the two communities to continue their efforts to end the deadlock," said Rehn.

"I trust Turkey will fully contribute to a solution. Reaching a comprehensive settlement will have an immense value to all of us who want to see an end to this 40-year-old conflict on a European soil, and it will certainly have a positive effect on the negotiations with Turkey."

Following his statement, Rehn was quizzed by MEP Yiannakis Matsis about the touchy issue of "virgin birth."

Matsis put the question to both Rehn and Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ali Babacan.

The Cypriot MEP asked whether Turkey supported the concept of “virgin birth” and how many sovereignties should exist on the island - one or two.

Will

In response, Rehn said he did not wish to go into detail on the Cyprus problem.

"It’s up to the two leaders," he noted.

He said a final solution on Cyprus would mainly depend on the political will from the two sides.

According to Rehn, the EU was at the disposal of the two leaders to furnish them with constitutional experts, who could come up with "imaginative ideas" that would even be able "to square the circle."

The EU had the ability to provide legal assistance for a Cyprus settlement, he added.

For his part, Babacan said Turkey endorsed the May 23 statement issued by the island’s two leaders.

For Turkey, he added, the objective was that the two "co-founding states would form a new state."

The government says it would never agree to this, because a reunified state must be the continuation of the present Republic. Greek Cypriots fear such an arrangement would not prevent the Turkish Cypriot constituent state from seceding from a federal republic, since that constituent state would be sovereign on its own.

Turkey is the only country that does not recognise the Republic of Cyprus.

Tactful

Despite his tactful answer, Rehn’s comment was taken by some to mean that the EU was not ruling out “virgin birth”, or the emergence of two sovereign states - even for a split-second - that would then unite to form the Federal Republic of Cyprus.

His comment sparked indignation among some political quarters and a section of the press in Cyprus.

"EU flirts with virgin birth," blared Phileleftheros on its front-page banner on Wednesday.

But later the same day Government Spokesman Stephanos Stephanou said such remarks should not be taken out of context.

Asked by newsmen whether Rehn’s answer appeared to lend support to the idea of “virgin birth”, Stephanou said: "That assessment is entirely your own. I say again, in my view Mr Rehn was not talking about virgin birth. Nor did last week’s communique for that matter."

The spokesman said that, given the government had a clear position on the matter, it would be pointless to start second-guessing what Turkey or anyone else thinks about “virgin birth”.

what the hell does the virgin birth have to do with the cyprus problem.
Its 11.30pm here so maybe I'm not grasping this

virgin birth indicates the creation of a new state from scratch as opposed to what the GC hope for which is a continuation of the ROC with constituional changes. Every solution so far has been on the basis of a virgin birth, they now think their powerful enough to prevent that from happening. We shall see.

Holy cow does that mean if i talk about premature ejaculation negotiators will view that as advocating violent uprising

EU ready to accept any Cyprus solution that respects core principles
By Jean Christou

THE E.U. can accept any Cyprus solution as long as a united Cyprus respects the principles on which the EU is founded and is able to carry the obligations of EU membership, Brussels said yesterday.

Asked about reports on Thursday that a new state or ‘virgin birth’ would mean Cyprus reapplying for EU membership, Enlargement spokeswoman Krisztina Nagy told the Cyprus Mail the EU fully supported both communities on the island to make the necessary compromises for a solution.

“As and when issues within our competence arise in this context, the Commission stands ready to offer our advice,” she said.

Nagy’s statements appear to clarify the EU’s position that a new state of affairs in Cyprus would not mean reapplying for membership, and bears out comments by an EU diplomat on Thursday that Brussels would “bend over backwards” to help a Cyprus solution rather than complicate it further.

“The EU stands behind a renewed UN process,” Nagy said.

She said the Commission welcomed the meeting of the leaders of the two communities in Cyprus on May 23.

“Their joint statement shows that the process towards a settlement of the Cyprus issue under UN auspices is well under way. It is a positive sign that the leaders agree on the basic parameters of a united Cyprus as a ‘bi-zonal, bi-communal federation with political equality, as defined by relevant Security Council resolutions’. This statement speaks for itself, it is not up to the Commission to interpret it,” Nagy added.

The government made it clear on Thursday there would no virgin birth and no confederation, only the continuation of the Cyprus Republic in the framework of a bizonal, bicommunal federation with one single international personality, sovereignty and citizenship.

The Turkish side, however, does not want a united Cyprus to grow out of the existing Republic of Cyprus, and keeps referring to two states, two populations and two democracies.

Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat came under fire from the Greek Cypriot side yesterday after reportedly telling Euronews in an interview that there were no Turkish mainland settlers in Cyprus.

Government Spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said yesterday Talat often complained about statements that did not help confidence building between the two communities.

“While he is complaining, he does not resist the temptation to state unacceptable positions on substantial issues of the Cyprus problem,” Stefanou said.



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