Greek Prime Minister Costa Karamanalis and his wife Natasha enjoyed a successful two day trip to Cyprus last week.

Over the two days in Cyprus Karamanlis addressed the Cypriot Parliament, met with Cypriot President, Dimitris Christofias, as well as with the leadership of major political parties AKEL and DIKO.

The Greek Prime Minister also met with the the Archbishop of Cyprus, Chrysostomos II, and with the Committee of Relatives of Missing Persons and Undeclared Prisoners of War.

The Greek Prime Minister and the Cypriot President discussed how the reunification talks were progressing.

Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis assured Cypriots that Greece will support, with all its strength, the efforts for a just, viable and functional solution to the Cyprus problem.

Speaking after talks with Christofias in Nicosia, Karamanlis said United Nations-mediated negotiations “should continue until a settlement is reached… without the intervention of third parties and imposed deadlines.”

The two leaders also said they will continue to back Turkey’s full membership of the European Union despite their disappointment at the lack of progress in talks to reunify the island.

“We support Turkey’s course to accession because we believe that a Turkey which adopts European codes of conduct would be better for its citizens, for the entire EU and for its neighbors,” Karamanlis said at a joint news conference.

Christofias and Karamanlis said they oppose the idea of awarding Turkey a “special relationship” with the EU instead of full membership; insisting Ankara should continue to strive toward fulfilling all membership criteria.

Prior to departing from Nicosia for the energy conference in Sofia, Bulgaria, the Greek Prime Minisiter said he was honoured by the way Cypriots have welcomed him in Cyprus and their love of Greece.

While Karamanlis’ talk of a  Turkey enmeshed with Western European values was applauded by many, some foreign critics are of the view that any genuine attempt by Turkey to join the European Union is doomed to failure.