Abstract
Defining the Cyprus Green Line is a contested issue. Since the accession to the European Union of the Republic of Cyprus (RoC) in 2004, the EU has had to balance between two conflicting definitions of the Green Line. The first, set by international law and the United Nations (UN) resolutions, is that of a peace line that is only a temporary internal discontinuity within the RoC, separating both communities until a settlement is agreed. The second, championed by Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots’ pseudo-state, is that of an international border between both independent communities. The EU has had to apply both definitions at the same time, legally and pragmatically, which has heavily hindered its own peacebuilding efforts in Cyprus and reduced its actorness in Eastern Mediterranean geopolitics.
Highlights
The European Union’s (EU) enlargement of 2004 extended its borders towards the East and in the Mediterranean and brought new challenges to its bordering abilities
As Cyprus joined the EU a week after the proposed Annan Plan for a reunified island was rejected through referendum by the Greek Cypriot Community, the European institutions had to take into account the complex legalities surrounding the Cyprus Green Line
Seventeen years after the Republic of Cyprus (RoC) entered the EU, the Green Line remains a contested discontinuity. Both definitions coexist through the legal frameworks set by international law or by the EU itself
Summary
The European Union’s (EU) enlargement of 2004 extended its borders towards the East and in the Mediterranean and brought new challenges to its bordering abilities. As Cyprus joined the EU a week after the proposed Annan Plan for a reunified island was rejected through referendum by the Greek Cypriot Community, the European institutions had to take into account the complex legalities surrounding the Cyprus Green Line. Drawn up across the island in 1974 after Turkey’s military interventions in Cyprus, the Green Line is a Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) administered by the United Nations (UN) that separates the two communities: Greek Cypriots to the south and Turkish Cypriots to the north. The Green Line is neither an international border nor an internal division of the RoC, yet it separates two distinct states and populations. This ambiguity remained as the RoC joined the EU on behalf of all Cypriots. The whole island of Cyprus is EU territory as it is the de jure territory of the RoC, but the acquis communautaire has been suspended north of the Green Line by the European Council until a settlement is reached
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
