President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulides will hold a meeting next week with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the European Council in Brussels, Government Spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said Wednesday.
In his statements to reporters at the Presidential Palace, the Spokesman announced that President Christodoulides will travel to Brussels next week for the European Council meeting and that on the sidelines of the Council, a meeting between the President and the UNSG has been arranged on March 18 “following a relevant initiative and letter from the President of the Republic”.
This meeting, he noted, will take place in the framework of “the clear and firm political will of President Christodoulides to resume negotiations on the Cyprus issue and at the same time confirms the firm and continuous interest of the United Nations Secretary General himself in a period of intense geopolitical developments”.
Letymbiotis reiterated the readiness of the Greek Cypriot side to restart the process from the point the talks were interrupted in 2017 in Crans Montana, on the basis of a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, as defined in the relevant United Nations resolutions and with full respect for the acquis of the previous negotiation process.
“Our firm position remains that the convening of an expanded meeting under the UN Secretary General can act as a catalyst for achieving substantive progress,” he said, adding, “we declare our readiness to attend such a conference, so that all aspects of the Cyprus problem can be discussed and the conditions can be created for the restart of the substantive negotiation process.”
Our side, he noted, has a clear political will and readiness. “Time cannot be at the expense of effort. Initiatives are needed that maintain the momentum of the process and create the prospect of substantive progress,” he said.
Moreover, Letymbiotis said that during in Brussels, the President of the Republic will also have a meeting with the President of the European Commission, with whom he will discuss regional developments and they will also review the close cooperation and continuous communication they have had throughout this period, “within the context of the European Union’s practical and substantive support to 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.
