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Doros Theodoru, the Minister of Justice and Public Order, confessed that the Greek Cypriot Administration has prevented solution of the Cyprus problem till today. He also expressed that now they are not in a hurry for solution, they aim to solve the Cyprus question with the European law.

In the Greek Cypriot daily ‘Alithia’ on 4 March 2005, it was stated that Theodoru decided to reveal the tactic of President Papadopulous regarding the Cyprus problem, which was hidden till today. Theodoru confirmed the following:

The effort spent up to date has been for preventing the solution.

We will work to refrain from negotiations until the date of 3 October.

Solution of the Cyprus question will be searched within time and within the law of the European Union.

During his visit in New York, Theodoru said, " The outcome of the ‘No’ vote from the referendum was a success, because it meant that we still continued to be a state. Thus, we are a member of the EU as a state. We have a voice in the EU and we have a role to play."

In his long statement, Theodoru explaining that the government’s main policy from the moment Cyprus became an EU member, it no longer needed to settle the Cyprus issue and that the issue would now slowly be settled within the EU norms, said:

"We are not the ones who are hurrying, it’s Turkey. We will control Turkey and have a say over Turkey. This is the European settlement. When we say European settlement, this is what we mean. Within the EU, all the big and small problems related with the occupation will be taken up in all the EU organs and Turkey’s EU membership talks and a settlement will be found."

Theodoru pointed out that Cyprus’s EU membership secured a strategic victory for Hellenism and that for the first time he felt optimistic about the island’s future. He added:

"Membership means that the Cyprus issue is not just within the new conditions of the UN’s monopoly, and its political removal from the UN framework where interests were concerned, also means that it has become a legal and a political issue in another institution known as the EU.

Within this EU framework, we can be optimistic that we can achieve a settlement over time because we will have the opportunity to act and intervene and by adopting the EU’s legal regime and EU norms and in EU principles shaped within this framework, and off course this would be achieved much faster than the settlement process proposed by the UN Secretary-General."

While answering reporter’s questions, Theodoru rejecting the rumours that the time factor was making a Cyprus settlement more difficult said the following:

" Pressure has intensified and is increasing; this is a phenomenon whereas our stance is another factor. For the first time, our stance has a role and a significance, which will yield a result not only for preventing the solution but also for creation of preconditions of some concrete solutions.

Our effort is to draw the attention to another way toward the date of 3 October and negotiation procedure.|"