EU would welcome united Cyprus, president of EU Parliament says

The president of the European Parliament said Tuesday the EU would welcome a reunited Cyprus.

Martin Schulz's remarks came during the opening ceremony of a photographic exhibition -- Beneath the Carob Trees: The lost lives of Cyprus -- in the Belgium capital, Brussels.

The EU would not be whole until the entire island becomes a part of the bloc "because we believe that the reunification of Cyprus is bringing together those who belong to each other," Schulz said.

The eastern Mediterranean island was divided into a Turkish Cypriot state in the north and a Greek Cypriot administration in the south after a 1974 military coup was followed by the intervention of Turkey as a guarantor power.

Also speaking Tuesday, Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, said he supported local leaders -- Mustafa Akinci, president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades -- in reunification talks.

"If we lose this chance, we will not get a second one," he said, referring to ongoing negotiations.

Reunification talks between the Greek and Turkish communities on the island resumed in May 2015 and were expected to be resolved by the end of this year with the formation of a federal administration.

Previous negotiations stalled in October 2014 due to a dispute over gas exploration.