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“I am not interested in geopolitics”, as many times all Europeans have said, heard and, after all, it is already visible. Cyprus has vetoed the European Union sanctions against Belarus, but by no means forgiveness for Lukashenko and his co-workers.
This is something else: it is explained by the fact that first you have to put out a fire in your field and then help a neighbor; when the air pressure drops in the plane, we first put on the oxygen mask and only then, on the sitting side. Cyprus, which joined the European Union in 2004, along with Lithuania and eight other countries, were the first to adopt the euro as an economically viable country that met the requirements of the Maastricht Treaty. At the urging of the European Union, it abandoned its international banking services, which formed an important part of the country’s economy, and expanded the tourism sector. (It should not be forgotten that banking in Cyprus has a history of thousands of years and has become an almost traditional business. However, it is a “tragicomic” part).
Cyprus, like other “newcomers” to the EU, then made many economic commitments and achieved good results, but the geopolitical situation in Cyprus was markedly different from that of other members. As such, it has not received the attention of the EU. The most important thing for Cyprus has been and is international aid from the European Union where this small Mediterranean country alone cannot help itself: reducing Turkey’s appetite for Cyprus. 1974 Turkey occupied the northern side of its little neighbor, taking advantage of, of course, bits of local nationalists. Unfortunately, the western states did not strongly oppose this occupation at the time, because the president of Cyprus at that time was the archbishop, the head of the church, Makarios III, who followed the policy of non-alignment. It applied a similar policy from Finland to Cyprus and kept the door open to trade with all the political blocs that existed at the time.
His diplomacy and growing international popularity did not suit the dictatorship of the “black colonels” in Greece, much less the “father” of Turkey, Mustafa Ataturk. They were just waiting for an opportunity for their arrows. The Turkish occupation has affected not only one in three Greeks who have lost their property and homes, but also the entire Turkish Cypriot community, which remains Turkey’s true hostage on the island. For half a century, Cypriots have been trying to regain their occupied homeland, and for half a year, Turkey has been imposing sanctions on the Republic of Cyprus without recognizing it as a state and cutting all possible ties with it. Turkey seeks to be the first in Cyprus to recognize the occupied north as a pro-Turkish independent state. The Republic of Cyprus, of course, will not be able to do this ethically, politically or economically.
Humanly, this aspiration of Turkey is similar to the humiliation of the less powerful to surrender completely. When Cyprus discovered gas in its territorial waters a few years ago, Turkish President Erdogan demanded half the finding that a supposedly unwritten Turkish “border” passed through Nicosia, not off the coast of Turkey. Furthermore, it was immediately reminded that Turkish Cypriot interests on the island must also be protected. However, after Cyprus offered a “third party”, Erdogan seemed “too small” and sent Turkish machinery off the coast of Cyprus to “find and get his share.” After that, warships appeared one after another, which are not invisible objects in the sea, they can be seen through the windows of residential houses.
Every Cypriot asks: how much is possible? Offer a sofa, sit on your head … And so on every year. This year, the conflict has escalated so much that Cyprus, Greece and Israel have sat down to rebuild a military alliance in the Mediterranean.
What will it bring? New tensions? Turkey’s objective seems clear: to break up the Cypriot state and finally make it its part. In history, this is known as imperial ambition. A “trifle” like Cyprus is a letter to Turkey. The European Union, which plays only an economic role in the region, although it is negotiating with Turkey, has fallen downhill like Sisyphus. European interests appear to be divided. The German Chancellor, who came to Cyprus a few years ago, admitted that “there are problems”, the French government had sent a regatta … in the face and he looks quite lonely. If you are not alone, then in the danger zone. Presidents of other countries have visited Cyprus once in an effort to help: this is how the French and Israeli military bases have appeared in Cyprus, there are still British and American bases, and Europe still wonders why Cyprus does not join NATO . “We will soon come out of our arms,” Cypriot President Nick Anastasiadis once said.
The Baltic countries, of course, know little about Cyprus. It is “too far” and “too old a story”. First of all, our Lithuanian media are also not prepared to receive information from this region. They often treat the region as “irrelevant”. Many Lithuanians often think of cliches as “lazy scammers from the south”. These clichés are also alive in the minds of our MEPs (although Andrius Kubilius’s statement a few months ago, which crushed Greece as a bad example for everyone’s economy: as they say, “from the sidelines”, is a shame).
Lithuania and the whole of Europe really need a more sensitive approach to geopolitics, a “square” of mutual knowledge of history, culture and diplomacy. More. About sanctions. They never punish the authorities, they punish and humiliate the people of that country. They provoke flows of refugees. Unfortunately, this is not the best weapon, but simply force against force. This has opened up a major challenge for Europe: to become not only an economic union but also a diplomatic union; principled, negotiable and responsible. Even personal. The Cyprus veto is not what this veto appears to be directed against. The geopolitical insensitivity and stagnant diplomacy of the common elements of the European Union are being appealed, believing that it will improve.
(Cyprus vetoed European sanctions against Belarus so that the EU would pay the same attention to the eastern Mediterranean as its members who cannot repel Turkish attacks on their own)
Dalia Staponkutė is a writer and literary translator who has lived in Cyprus for many years.
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