Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Chairman
Rep. Christopher H. Smith, Co-Chairman
For Immediate Release

www.csce.gov
March 19, 2002

(Washington) - The United States Helsinki Commission will hold a briefing examining the possible ramifications should the ongoing Cyprus talks fail. The leaders of the Republic of Cyprus and the occupied northern zone have been conducting discussions since early December. With the accession of Cyprus into the European Union anticipated, and British upgrading of their bases on the island, there are a variety of developments which could positively or negatively impact the eastern Mediterranean.

If the Cyprus Talks Fail Tuesday, March 26, 2002 10:00 AM – 12:00 Noon 562 Dirksen Senate Office Building Briefing Panelists: Doug Bandow, Senior Fellow, CATO Institute
Philip Gordon, Director, Center on the United States and France and Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy Studies, Brookings Institute
Ian Lesser, Senior Political Scientist, RAND Corporation
Colonel Stephen R. Norton (U.S. Army, Ret.), Senior Policy Advisor, Western Policy Center

An un-official transcript of this briefing will be available on the Commission’s web site, http://www.csce.gov, within 24 hours.

The United States Helsinki Commission, an independent federal agency, by law monitors and encourages progress in implementing provisions of the Helsinki Accords. The Commission, created in 1976, is composed of nine Senators, nine Representatives and one official each from the Departments of State, Defense and Commerce.

Media Contact: Ben Anderson
202.225.1901

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