Brussels, 24 November 2020
During the plenary session, the European Parliament organised a debate on the escalating tensions in Varosha following actions taken by Turkey and on the urgent need for the resumption of talks. Željana Zovko also took the floor and called to re-define the European strategy towards Turkey and to set our borders of defence for our partners.
Zovko referred to the testimonies of refugees who escaped warzones that say that they will only find peace when they return to their homes in order to reconcile their memories between the two lives they lived: a normal life before and a life as refugee, as displaced person. “This story can come from people in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Syria, in Nagorno-Karabakh. However, this time we talk about the case of Varosha,” Zovko said. She stated that according to the United Nations conventions, every refugee has the right to return and no one has a right to take somebody else’s property.
In her intervention, Zovko said that on a few occasions in the recent months, the EU had to deal with a candidate country that claims to aspire membership, while it upholds an irresponsible and aggressive behaviour. According to Zovko, the country causes clashes in the Eastern Mediterranean, makes inflammatory speeches and helped the violent conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. “At this moment, that country continues to divide a European Member State and breaks with United Nations Security Council resolutions by digging deeper wounds in the already traumatised memories of the Cypriot citizens,” Zovko said.
Zovko underlined that it is time to show the exit strategy for the historic mistakes and to stop bullying in and around our European Union.