At Monday's European Parliament meeting in Strasbourg, the EU's enlargement commissioner Gunter Verheugen stated during his speech that a strategic goal of the union is the acceptance of a unified Cyprus and that the union emphatically supports the UN Secretary General's efforts towards a solution to the Cyprus problem. Mr. Verheugen also noted the close cooperation between the Foreign Ministers of Cyprus, Greece and Turkey and highlighted the importance of the recent meetings between himself and Mr. Raouf Denktash followed by the latter's meeting with the UN Secretary General which was aimed at re-starting the negotiations.

Mr. Verheugen reported that Cyprus is first on the list of applicant countries with 23 chapters closed out of 31, followed by Hungary with 22 chapters.