Athens, 8 July 2021 (dpa/MIA) – The EU will never accept a two-state solution for the divided island of Cyprus, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday. Her remarks, which were made on Cypriot state radio, followed a meeting with President Nikos Anastasiades in the capital Nicosia. Von der Leyen added that she had also made this position clear to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a telephone call. After many years of fruitless negotiation, both Erdogan and Ersin Tatar, president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) – a country only recognized by Turkey – have demanded the island’s final division into two states: a Turkish Cypriot one in the north and a Greek Cypriot one in the south. Under this arrangement, the two countries would be able to cooperate in a loose confederation of some kind. The Greek Cypriot side, however, supports the continued discussion of a two-state federation as a solution. The United Nations has also called for this in UN Security Council resolutions. Relations between Turkey and EU member state Cyprus are extremely tense due to the occupation by Turkish troops of the northern part of the island since 1974, and disputes over sovereign rights and energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean. Moreover, Ankara does not recognise Cyprus as an EU member. A mediation attempt by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres failed markedly at the end of April. The positions of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot sides are so far apart that even formal negotiations cannot be started, Guterres admitted at the time.