THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE CYPRUS IMBROGLIO

Abstract

Until the 1990s the European Union EU - known as the European Community EC at that time - was considered to be “an economic giant, but a political pygmy,” for, although it exercised considerable influence in economic, particularly commercial matters, its voice did not count for a great deal in political matters, especially defence and security. However, with the end of the Cold War, and the collapse of communism in the Soviet bloc, the EU faced a transformed situation in international power relationships, with a shift of the focus from the global East-West dimension to regional issues and conflicts.1 Therefore, it began to aspire to a leading role on the European continent, if not throughout the globe. That aspiration, however, turned into a nightmare during the post-1991 break-up of the Yugoslav Federation. The Bosnian crisis dealt a heavy blow to this fledgling international actor’s effort at conflict resolution. The EC’s attempts at conflict resolution in Bosnia was a catastrophe to say the least. And the world media was relentless in its condemnation of such attempts.2