Pavlos Xanthoulis
In 2025, eight years after the Crans-Montana Conference collapsed, Cyprus is still locked in debate over what happened in that Swiss resort and who Brussels believed was responsible. The dispute touches on both the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot positions, but more sharply on how the EU viewed each side’s role in the failed push to resolve the Cyprus problem.
That question led to a look back at the written record, pulling out archives and official documents to see how the European Commission actually assessed Crans-Montana at the time, regardless of whether one agrees with the EU’s position or its framing.
At the center of this retrospective is the Commission’s annual progress report on Turkey, the first published after Crans-Montana. And for the Republic of Cyprus, it made for uncomfortable reading. On two separate pages, the report effectively cleared Ankara of blame, stating that Turkey “expressed support” for the talks and for UN efforts. It noted simply that the Conference “ended without agreement,” leaving Nicosia exposed by omission.
Adding to that, EU High Representative Federica Mogherini, who presented the report, underscored that “Turkey is Europe” and stressed that Brussels and Ankara “worked hard together last year trying to find a solution” to the Cyprus issue. Her remarks, paired with the report’s wording, amounted to a full exoneration of Ankara, with clear implications for Nicosia.
What the report actually said
The Commission’s April 17, 2018, progress report stated that Turkey supported the settlement talks and the UN process, including the Geneva and Crans-Montana conferences. It concluded that the July 2017 meeting “ended without agreement,” without assigning responsibility to Turkey. The implication was clear: if the talks failed and Turkey was not blamed, the responsibility lay elsewhere.
Mogherini reinforced that tone during the press conference presenting the report. She highlighted Turkey’s cooperation on Cyprus and expressed hope that efforts would resume. The message stood in sharp contrast with the account later presented by former President Nicos Anastasiades, who claimed Mogherini had praised the Greek Cypriot side. Both the written report and her public comments suggested otherwise.
Cavusoglu throws down the gauntlet
The months after Crans-Montana brought another revealing moment. On July 25, 2017, just 18 days after the talks collapsed, Turkey and the EU held a High-Level Political Dialogue meeting. There, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavusoglu and European Affairs Minister Ömer Çelik openly used Turkey’s “positive stance” on Cyprus to demand the lifting of Cyprus’ veto on Turkish accession chapters.
Cavusoglu went further, publicly challenging Mogherini and then-Commissioner for Enlargement Johannes Hahn to say “who was constructive and who was not at Crans-Montana.” Mogherini sidestepped the challenge, simply expressing regret that no agreement was reached and noting the “large differences” between the sides.
But behind the scenes, Turkish sources claimed that Mogherini and Hahn privately acknowledged Turkey was “one step ahead” on the Cyprus issue and “not responsible” for the collapse. A Commission source close to Mogherini declined to confirm whether she viewed Nicosia as responsible.
Exoneration amid tensions
What makes the Commission’s stance even more striking is its timing. The EU was clearing Ankara of blame for Crans-Montana at a moment when Turkey was escalating threats and illegal actions in the eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean, conduct the EU strongly criticized in the very same report.
Just a month earlier, in March 2018, the European Council had condemned Turkey’s ongoing violations and called on Ankara to respect international law and normalize relations with all member states. The Commission itself noted that Turkey’s actions were damaging its relations with the EU, highlighting incidents in which Turkish naval vessels blocked drilling operations contracted by Cyprus to Italy’s ENI.
Yet despite those tensions, the Commission drew a clear line separating Turkey’s actions at sea from its conduct at Crans-Montana, and in the process, placed the weight of responsibility for the failed talks somewhere other than Ankara.
*Greek version available on Kathimerini and Kathimerini.com.cy
