UK Liberal Democrat MPs sign Early Day Motion calling for a bizonal, bicommunal federation in Cyprus

All Members of Parliament of the Liberal Democrats in the UK have signed an Early Day Motion (EDM) submitted in the House of Commons in support of a bizonal, bicommunal federation in Cyprus.

The EDM was proposed on 22 February by the Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson and Member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Cyprus, Layla Moran MP.

The motion proposed that the House “believes that the internationally recommended model of a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation with political equality, with a federal government with single international sovereignty and citizenship” is the best way to achieve an agreement on the reunification of Cyprus that respects the rule of law and fundamental rights of all Cypriots.

Co-signing along with the rest of the party’s MPs was the Liberal Democrats’ Leader Sir Ed Davey and the Vice-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Cyprus, Christine Jardine MP.

According to the National Federation of Cypriots in the UK, Sir Ed Davey MP had previously said in meetings with them that “Cyprus will best succeed as an independent and reunited state, in line with UN Security Council Resolutions and High-Level Agreements.”

The signing of the EDM follows the joint condemnation by the Federation and Liberal Democrat councilor Anton Georgiou of a controversial statement by the local party branch of Waltham Forest (north London), supporting the raising of the flag of the illegal pseudostate in the occupied northern part of Cyprus outside the local Town Hall last November.

The EDM follows discussions on the issue between the Federation with Liberal Democrat officials and Parliamentarians.

“Following the swift response and longer-term engagement of the Federation, the co-signing of this EDM, by all Liberal Democrat MPs, serves to reiterate the policy of the National Party,” the National Federation of Cypriots has stated.