The voters of the Greek part of Cyprus produced an extraordinary result in their presidential elections, which were completed Sunday.

The victor in the two-round voting was Demetris Christofias, leader of the island's Communist Party. He and the other second-round competitor, Ioannis Kasoulides, had eliminated President Tassos Papadopoulos in the first round earlier in the month.

During the Cold War the victory of a Communist as president of a country that is a member of the European Union would have sent the United States and some Western European countries into cardiac arrest. Now, it doesn't mean much. Mr. Christofias' party owns a number of businesses and he has promised not to tamper with Cyprus' free-market economy.

The other, more important aspect of his victory is that Mr. Christofias pledged before the elections to resume negotiations with the leaders of the Turkish part of Cyprus toward reunification of the island if he were elected.

Cyprus split in 1974. An agreement was brokered by the United Nations in 2004, but when it was submitted to the two populations for approval the Turkish Cypriots accepted it while the Greek Cypriots voted against it.

The EU was in a position to oblige the Greek Cypriots to sign on when Greek Cyprus was seeking admission to the EU. It could have made reunification a condition of membership, but under pressure from EU member Greece, the organization folded its hand and let Greek Cyprus in anyway, without having reached an agreement with the Turkish side.

The newly elected leader has promised to meet with Turkish Cypriot President Mehmet Ali Talat "at the earliest possible date." Prospects are much improved for a good outcome, given that the Greek Cypriots rejected Mr. Papadopoulos, who opposed the previous agreement, and chose Mr. Christofias to be president instead.

A solution of this 34-year-old problem would also clear one barrier from the path of Turkey itself to EU membership, a development which the United States favors. The Greek Cypriots have probably also done themselves a favor since the island has much better prospects for a bright future united than divided.