Nicosia aims to resume the talks on the Cyprus issue from the point where they were interrupted in 2017, the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Niκos Christodoulides stressed during a meeting he had with the Greek Prime Minister in Athens today ahead of the informal meeting in Geneva on the Cyprus issue.
Referring to the importance of the Geneva Summit, Christodoulides stressed that the government aims to build on the acquis of the talks with the sole aim of resolving the Cyprus problem on the basis of the agreed framework and the EU principles and values.
Referring to the recent EU leaders Summit, Christodoulides highlighted the Athens-Nicosia initiative on the need to strengthen European defence and security and underlined the importance of the reference in the conclusions text to the fact that the Union faces threats in the Eastern Mediterranean, in addition to the existing threats in Ukraine.
Welcoming Christodoulides, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed that the recent European Council in Brussels vindicated the Greek positions on the need for more investment by Member States in Defence and the protection of all the Union’s borders.
Regarding the Cyprus issue, the Greek Prime Minister welcomed the efforts of Christodoulides to keep the dialogue alive with the aim to reach a fair and viable solution and reiterated that Greece will support the efforts of the Republic of Cyprus.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results due to Turkish intransigence. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced an expanded meeting, in Geneva, on March 17 and 18, to exchange views with the Cyprus President and the Turkish Cypriot leader on ways of achieving progress on the Cyprus issue, following their informal dinner on October 15, 2024, in New York. Representatives from Greece, Turkey and the UK are also expected to attend the meeting.
