Informal meeting on Cyprus continues today in New York

The informal meeting on the Cyprus issue in New York enters its second and final day today, during which UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will hold bilateral meetings with each delegation, followed by a plenary session in which the parties will discuss the way forward.

Prior to the bilateral meetings, President Christodoulides is to meet with the United Kingdom’s Minister of State for Europe, Stephen Doughty, at around 08:15 New York time (15:15 Cyprus time).

President Christodoulides’ bilateral meeting with Guterres is scheduled for 10:15 New York time (17:15 Cyprus time).

The bilateral meeting with the UN Secretary-General will also be attended by Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, Government Spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis, Deputy Minister for European Affairs Marilena Raouna, Greek Cypriot Negotiator Menelaos Menelaou, Permanent Representative of the Republic to the UN, Maria Michael and Director of the Diplomatic Office of the President, Doros Venezis.

The Plenary Session of the conference will follow, in which the UN Secretary-General, President Christodoulides, the Foreign Ministers of Greece and Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot leader will participate, as heads of their delegations.

The Greek Cypriot delegation at the Plenary Session will consist of President Christodoulides, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Government Spokesperson, the Deputy Minister for European Affairs, the Negotiator, and lawyer Achilles Emilianides.

A working lunch will follow.

It was an interesting meeting, President Christodoulides says after New York dinner

On 16 July, Christodoulides attended a dinner at the UN headquarters in New York, hosted the UNSG for the heads of the delegations participating in the informal meeting on the Cyprus issue.

The dinner lasted about an hour, but President Christodoulides left shortly after 21:00, a few minutes after leader of the Turkish Cypriots, Ersin Tatar, and Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan.

Asked about the dinner on his way out, President Christodoulides said: “It was an interesting first discussion, let’s see how things evolve tomorrow.”

Asked why some participants were late leaving the dinner, he said, “because the discussion was interesting”.

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar and UNSG Antonio Guterres

Present at the dinner were Guterres, President Christodoulides, the Turkish Cypriot leader, the Foreign Ministers of Greece and Turkey, and the UK’s Minister of State for Europe. On the UN side, also present were UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, UNSG personal envoy on Cyprus, Maria Angela Holguin, and UNSG Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), Colin Stewart.

Earlier, Christodoulides met with Greece’s Foreign Minister, George Gerapetritis.

(Source & photos: CNA, PIO)