The National Council, the top advisory body to the President on the handling of the Cyprus issue, is due to convene under the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, at 10am on Monday, 22 June, to be informed about the latest developments in the Cyprus issue, following the recent visit to Cyprus of UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, María Ángela Holguín.
In statements after a meeting he had with Holguín during her visit to the island, the President had described the weeks until her return to Cyprus as “crucial”, expressing hope that there would be a collective approach domestically towards the objective of an expanded (5+1) meeting on the Cyprus issue.
He reiterated his optimism “that we will achieve the objective of convening an expanded meeting, which will result in the resumption of negotiations. This major effort continues,” he added.
The President said that all leaders of parties represented in the House of Representatives, following May's parliamentary elections, had been invited to the National Council meeting. At the same time, he added, he would also keep informed the leaders of parties that are not represented in Parliament but had previously participated in the National Council.
“We are at a critical juncture. I want us to move forward collectively. I hope that this objective of unity and collective action can be achieved, and I do not believe that anyone is opposed to the resumption of negotiations on the basis of the agreed framework, apart from certain parties that have clearly stated different positions regarding the desired outcome,” he added.
“The coming days and the coming weeks until Ms Holguín’s return to Cyprus are of crucial importance,” he noted.
After her visit to Cyprus, Holguín had meetings in Turkey and Greece with the Foreign Ministers of the two countries and is expected to return to Cyprus in the coming weeks after holding contacts in Brussels.
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.
In 2025 the Secretary-General hosted two informal meetings on Cyprus, in March in Geneva and in July in New York, while a tripartite meeting with the Cyprus leaders was also held in late September, at the end of the UN General Assembly High Level Week. An informal meeting in broader format that was expected to take place before the end of 2025, is yet to be announced. María Angela Holguín, the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy on Cyprus, is tasked to engage with the parties.
(Source: CNA)
