History of Cyprus since 1878 1948, King Paul of Greece declared that Cyprus desired union with Greece. In 1950 the Orthodox Church of Cyprus presented a referendum according to which around 97% of the Greek Cypriot population wanted the union. The United Nations accepted the Greek petition and "enosis" became an international issue. In 1952 both Greece and Turkey became members of NATO. After the war, a delegation from Cyprus submitted a demand for enosis to London. The demand was rejected but the British proposed a more liberal constitution and a 10-year programme of social and economic development. Led by Archbishop Makarios, the Greek Cypriot
Northern Cyprus and the European Union EU by virtue of "de jure" being part of the Republic of Cyprus. It was hoped that the accession of the south in 2004 would provide the catalyst for unification so that a unitary state of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots could join the EU on 1 May 2004. In the end, Turkish Cypriots supported reunification, also because it would allow them to join the EU. However, the unification plan was voted down by the Greek Cypriots and Cyprus joined the EU in the face of the Republic of Cyprus. , the EU recognises the north as being outside the