The United Nations, both at the level of the UN Secretary-General and that of Maria Angela Holguín Cuéllar, pursued an effort for a new trilateral or even pentilateral meeting.
President Christodoulides responded positively, while the Turkish side was negative.
During the upcoming meeting between Mitsotakis and Erdogan, the Greek Prime Minister will once again propose the UN Secretary-General’s initiative.
President Christodoulides, informing the National Council yesterday, revealed the moves made by the United Nations to restart negotiations.
From the briefing of the political leadership, it appears that Maria Angela Holguín Cuéllar suggested an informal meeting between President Christodoulides and the leader of the Turkish Cypriots, either at the level of leaders only or with the participation of negotiators.
President Christodoulides responded positively, unlike Ersin Tatar, who was negative.
Holguín is reported to have informed the UN Secretary-General to convene an informal meeting either at the trilateral level (the two leaders plus the United Nations) or at the pentilateral level (the two leaders plus the guarantor powers).
President Christodoulides was informed about the United Nations’ thoughts by Antonio Guterres himself during their meeting in Brussels. In this case, the President was positive about both a trilateral and pentilateral meeting.
The Turkish side, as it appeared, insisted on being negative towards the possibility of such meetings.
Anyway, what the Turkish side seeks – according to estimates from Nicosia – is for things to continue as they are, for the semester to pass, and for deadlock to be declared.
However, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, during his visit to Ankara next month, intends to raise the issue of holding a meeting at trilateral or pentilateral level.
Holguín will return to the island on May 7 and will stay for a week.
Her meeting with the President of the Republic and most likely with Ersin Tatar will take place on May 8. President Christodoulides considers Holguín’s visit crucial for the future course of efforts in Cyprus.
Besides her visits to Berlin, Paris, and Brussels, Holguín may also seek another trip to Ankara.
Government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis, in his statements, referred to the briefing of the political leadership by the President, during which he also spoke about his meetings with Holguín.
Asked if Guterres’ proposal is still on the table, the spokesman said, “We expect Ms. Holguín in the first ten days of May, when she has a scheduled meeting with the President of the Republic, to see what the next steps are regarding this proposal by the Secretary-General, which we are still waiting to see how it can be implemented. We have expressed our positive response from the very beginning, and we consider every action of the UN, especially the Secretary-General of the UN, towards the effort to restart negotiations to be in the right direction.”
President Christodoulides extensively discussed the results of the European Council and the conclusions text, as well as Nicosia’s efforts on Migration.
