The European Union appealed to Cypriots on Thursday to back a UN plan to reunite their island in an April 24 referendum, but majority Greek Cypriots said it made too many concessions to their Turkish Cypriot rivals.
After a week of gruelling talks at a Swiss Alpine resort, the two parties failed to bridge key differences and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said late on Wednesday the people of the small Mediterranean island would decide the plan's fate.
Cyprus joins the EU on May 1, but if either side says no in the referendum only the internationally recognised Greek Cypriot south will enter, possibly cementing the island's division.
European Union Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen denied suggestions that the Swiss talks had failed and said the two peoples had never had a better chance for a settlement.
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