Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe (Jul 2004)
Cyprus / Chapter 2 of Europeanization and Conflict Resolution: Case Studies from the European Periphery
Abstract
This chapter reviews the impact of Europeanization on the Cyprus conflict. Since 1974, the UN has developed increasingly detailed proposals for a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation. But throughout the decades of failed negotiations the main parties have essentially stuck to their negotiating positions. In the 1990s, with Cyprus' application for EU membership, the EU became a key external determinant of the evolution of the conflict. Indeed, because of Cyprus' accession process and Turkey's own aspirations to join the Union, the parties to the conflict equate Europeanization with EU-ization. EU-ization in Cyprus has two dimensions: the impact of the EU as a framework on conflict resolution efforts, and the impact of the accession process on the parties in conflict. The latter dimension of Europeanization has had both intended and unintended effects, which in turn are likely to impinge on future developments in the eastern Mediterranean.
