The EU's Role in the Cyprus Conflict: System Failure or Structural Metamorphosis?

Abstract

This article explains how the EU became a key player in the Cyprus conflict and examines how local perceptions of the Union and its usefulness have affected its ability to manage the conflict. It argues that the EU undermined its own membership conditionality as a lever for the country's reunification through uncoordinated and mismanaged engagement in the pre-accession period. While the post-accession power balance shifted in favour of the Greek Cypriot community, neither side has been able to profit substantially from the new conditions. The post-accession status quo has led to widespread disillusionment with the realities of EU membership and is creating new resentments and antagonisms. EU membership for the Republic of Cyprus has given both protagonists the opportunity to use the Union to continue the dispute within a new ‘European’ rhetoric.