US Vice President Joe Biden
WE WOULD have thought that the announcement of the visit to Cyprus by US Vice President Joe Biden would have been welcomed by the Greek Cypriot political parties, which had always demanded a more active involvement of the international community, particularly the US, in the Cyprus peace efforts. For years they had been seeking US government help, arguing that only Washington could apply real pressure on Turkey, but now that it is being offered, the parties do not want it.
The parties that see the visit as a dangerous development are the customary peddlers of total negativity and guardians of the status quo. For the fledgling Alliance of Citizens the visit made it clear that the Anastasiades government “has accepted a solution of the Cyprus problem that serves the geo-political planning of the US in the eastern Mediterranean.” EDEK did not believe the US were up to any good while DIKO leader Nicholas Papadopoulos adhered to his simplistic views, posing the question: “Who stands to gain from Biden’s visit, us or the pseudo-state that would be upgraded?”
For all these parties the Cyprus problem must be preserved so they can keep scoring cheap political points with their rhetoric. Any attempt at making things move, such as the US government taking an active interest in the problem, is seen as a threat to the status quo. These parties would prefer nothing were done to bridge the differences of the two sides, which is why they have reacted so badly to the news of the visit.
Vice President Biden’s visit, scheduled for next week, will not only underline US support for the peace process but – if reports from Washington are correct – also pave the way for an agreement on Famagusta. Biden will reportedly announce the financing of a master plan for the Famagusta area, including fenced-off Varosha to which access would be given to the experts drafting the master plan. There would also be demining of three minefields. Both sides have reportedly agreed to the US proposal although there are still some procedural details to sort out.
President Anastasiades has been calling for the opening of the fenced area of Famagusta for a year now, and the US government has undertaken to make this confidence-building measure happen. Such a move, Anastasiades has always maintained, would give impetus to the ongoing talks. So, in answer to Papadopoulos, who rather naively sees every dispute as zero-sum game, we all stand to gain from Biden’s visit. And is this really such a bad thing?