DEVELOPMENTS

On January 1, 2010, Kazakhstan assumed the chairmanship of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), amid unusual controversy. Kazakhstan succeeded Greece in the rotating chairmanship of the 56-country body, which is the world’s largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization. Formed in the Cold War to diffuse East-West tensions, the forum focuses on arms control, free and fair elections, and human rights issues. The OSCE is one of the preeminent forums for Western governments to engage with Russia and former Soviet republics, such as Kazakhstan on the issues of human rights, democracy and clean government. Many observers therefore find Kazakhstan's leadership problematic given its well-documented history of corruption and human rights abuses.

DEVELOPMENTS

In December 2009, people waved good-bye to family members boarding a morning train from Belgrade, Serbia to Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.  While the journey on this rickety, three-car, communist-styled train may seem insignificant to most, it is the first train in 18 years to link these two war-torn capitals back together – exemplifying the strides Serbia has taken to overcome its tumultuous past and lay new ‘track work’ toward European integration.

The most significant step in Serbia’s path to European integration occurred just a few days later, when Serbian President Boris Tadic travelled to Sweden and personally delivered his country’s formal application for EU membership. Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt of Sweden, which held the rotating EU presidency at the time, praised Serbia’s European ambitions, while President Tadic has verbalized his optimism of becoming an EU member state by 2014.  

However, critics worry that Serbia’s application is premature. With lingering issues regarding war crimes cooperation, economic stability, Kosovo recognition, corruption, judicial and social reform, critics argue that Serbia needs more time to transition into a true ‘European’ state.

 

Foreign Policy Digest is pleased to offer to its readers a special three-part interview with Andreas Kakouris, the ambassador for Cyprus to the United States, conducted by Robert Friedman, Managing Editor of Foreign Policy Digest.

The interview marks another installment of Foreign Policy Digest "World Views", a series of interviews on contemporary foreign affairs topics conducted by the staff of Foreign Policy Digest with diplomats and foreign policy-makers, available on the Foreign Policy Digest website and the Foreign Policy Digest channel on YouTube.

 

DEVELOPMENTS

In April 2009 Turkish Cypriot voters gave the hard-line National Unity Party a parliamentary majority, lending urgency to the long-standing problem. Since 1974, the Island has been divided between de facto Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot zones. In that year, the Turkish military invaded Cyprus in the wake of a military coup backed by Greece, claiming its intervention was necessary to protect Turkish Cypriots. To this day, there is a Turkish military presence of 43,000 on the island.

The Turkish government continues to recognize the so-called Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which makes up a little over a third of the island. It is the only nation to do so. The European Union, along with the rest of the international community, rejects the Turkish claim and has condemned its occupation of Cyrpus, which presents a major obstacle to Turkey’s EU accession.

Ironically, the basis for an agreement has long existed: both sides generally agree on a bi-zonal, bi-communal federal formula.  But the devil is in the details, and it this case the details are numerous.  A 2004 plan developed by the UN was rejected in referendum by Greek Cypriots who claimed the plan did not address property lost during the Turkish invasion and allowed a Turkish military presence to continue on the island.

Observers agree that the current round of peace talks, begun in September 2008, present the best hope to resolve this conflict.