Days after the Annan plan referendum, EU Commissioner Chris Patten suggested Cyprus should never have been allowed into the EU. This was revealed in U.S. diplomatic cables released by whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks.
In the cable, Patten accused the Cypriot government of “blatant efforts to stifle opposing views” during the referendum while hinting that former President Tassos Papadopoulos was a “dubious character”.
The leaked cables shed light on the “random thoughts” of Patten, EU Commissioner for External Relations between 2000 and 2004, shared over dinner with a US official.
The cable was sent from the US embassy in Brussels to Washington on April 28, 2004. This was just four days after Greek Cypriots rejected the Annan plan. The U.S. cable notes Patten’s observations on the Commission’s next steps for Cyprus. He’s quoted saying that the European Commission expects to open an office in northern Cyprus to oversee the distribution of EU financial assistance.
While managing the funds directly from the north would present legal hurdles, Patten said he was confident the Commission would find a way.
According to the US cable: “Patten doubted the Greek Cypriots would openly oppose any efforts, noting that they were ‘on their heels’ diplomatically after their blatant efforts to stifle opposing views on the referendum.”
Patten went on to note that “this incident”, a likely reference to Cyprus’ membership to the EU as a divided island, was a “sad reflection” on the realities of EU enlargement.
Some of the new members were people you would “only want to dine with if you have a very long spoon”, he was quoted saying.
“Not that the EU should have been surprised by Papadopolous’ behavior,” he said, adding, “since they knew well who they were dealing with Milosevic’s lawyer.”
The rest of the cable relating to the legal representation of former president of Serbia and Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosevic has been removed by WikiLeaks.
The late Serb president was accused by the international community of bypassing UN sanctions during the 1990’s by funnelling money through Cyprus.
According to the International War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague, more than £1.23 billion was channelled by the former Yugoslav president and his associates through eight offshore companies in Cyprus between 1992 and 2000.
Several of the companies had been registered by Papadopoulos’ Nicosia law office, a common practice in Cyprus. The law firm insisted that beyond the registration, it had nothing to do with the companies’ activities. At the time, the firm’s partners maintained that Papadopoulos had nothing to do with the firm’s dealings with offshore companies and had very limited involvement with the firm in general during those years because of his intense engagement in politics.
Regarding Turkey’s EU accession path, Patten said he was the biggest proponent in the Commission for its admission, though the political climate in Europe was not receptive to Turkey’s candidacy.
Patten told the US official that he felt at times the US does not fully appreciate the difference between expanding an alliance like NATO, and a Union like the EU.
He explained that NATO was made of distinct members committed to a common cause while countries joining the EU become part of a whole.
“We have to be ready to trust their food and sanitation standards, for instance,” he said.
In this regard, he noted that some of the accession countries were foisted on the EU as part of a larger bargain.
“Cyprus, for instance, probably should not have been admitted (as Papadapolous’ behaviour prior to the referendum indicated), but the Greeks insisted on Cypriot admission as the price of agreeing to some of the northern European candidates,” noted the diplomatic cable.
Patten highlighted that Croatia was probably far more prepared for EU membership than Bulgaria or Romania which he described as a “feral nation”. The latter two countries joined the EU three years later in 2007 while Croatia remains a candidate country.
(source: cyprus mail)
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