Publication

This highly comprehensive document addresses security issues in Cyprus in the aftermath of the Greek Cypriots' rejection of the Annan Plan in 2004. On the basis of both extensive research and numerous interviews, the author presents a historical overview of ethnic conflict on the island, details the proposed Annan Plan and analyses divergent security and threat perceptions of the two different ethnic communities. Incorporating the international arena into the analysis, the paper examines the historical role of the EU in Cyprus and discusses how membership in the Union has changed the dynamics of potential conflict resolution on the island and how the EU could play a decisive role in bringing about such a solution. The author concludes that despite widely-differing polemical views and the current hostility between the representatives of both communities, room does exist for compromise on security issues, and that a resolution to the island's division would be welcome both to Cyprus as a whole and to the EU, removing the existence of a divided member state.