The UN Secretary-General is evaluating which could be the next phases that would convince both parties to take concrete steps towards a final solution, his personal envoy on Cyprus María Ángela Holguín, said Wednesday in a message, following her latest round of contacts in Nicosia, Athens, Ankara and New York. She said she is ‘committed and willing’ to explore all possible ways to promote dialogue towards an agreement that is satisfactory for all stakeholders.
Referring to her meetings she held in Ankara and Athens with Foreign Ministers Hakan Fidan and Giorgios Gerapetritis, following her visit to Cyprus last month, Holguin said, conversations ‘have been frank, clear and focused on areas and sectors all must work on so that the conditions created to foster concrete actions would open the way to move forward on the Cyprus issue’.
In this context, some actors also have a key role to play, such as the European Union, she noted, to create an environment to propitiate with determination and vision to actively support a solution to the Cyprus issue.
She also notes that she met last week with the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York. «He remains fully committed in his support to find a mutually beneficial solution for all Cypriots», she said, adding that, in this context, ‘he is evaluating which could be the next phases that will convince both parties to take concrete steps towards a final solution; hoping that optimism can drive both sides towards Cyprus’ future’.
‘It is my sincere hope that Cypriots, this time, will seize this historic opportunity to negotiate a lasting solution’, the personal envoy said, while also referring to ‘misinformation’.
In her message, the UNSG personal envoy refers to her visit to visit to Cyprus from 7 to 14 June, and her two meetings with the leaders Nikos Christodoulides and Tufan Erhrman, during which she said, they discussed ‘the way forward’, adding that she also engaged ‘in rich conversations’ with political parties in the south following the May 2026 parliamentary elections. ‘Everything we are doing is not only to start a negotiation but to ensure that it is carried out to a successful conclusion’, she notes.
For decades, Holguin says, ‘it has been difficult to build trust’. ‘The weight of history is heavy and must be handled with wisdom, empathy and generosity’, she said, adding a that ‘misinformation has also played a role’.
‘I understand that the political atmosphere is always sensitive, but I still believe that confidence can prevail if both parties put their minds and actions together to finally resolve their differences and disagreements’, she says. Holguin notes that in the last weeks, she read different articles published by media in the south and north of the island. ‘I noticed that they are rich in assumptions and creativity, the product of rumors and false beliefs on both sides of the island’, she says, adding that there is ‘not a single written word coming from me’, and that she concentrated her work on listening to the parties and many other stakeholders from both sides. ‘I know that expectations are big and there is a fear of opening a door to building a new future; and, moreover, under this uncertainty, strong forces appear to want to keep the status quo alive’, she notes.
She also refers to the retreats she promoted in Amman, Jordan and Brussels with the Youth Committee, in the UK with the co-chairs of the 13 technical committees, and in Paphos with academics and politicians, noting that they have shown her ‘that a constructive dialogue is possible between Cypriots from both sides’.
Since the beginning, she said, ‘I have devoted time to listen to academics, politicians, the private sector, and civil society at large’, who shared with her their visions, perspectives, fears and understanding of feasible solutions, noting that she recognizes the wide spectrum of their ideas from which Cypriots could build a final and sustainable solution.
Holguin says she is ‘committed’ to keep exploring suggestions and options to enable the United Nations, to support both leaders in their search to reach a settlement that takes into account the fundamental interests of all Cypriots. ‘Needless to say, that sustained and genuine political will of the two leaders, supported by their own communities, will continue to be needed to ensure a successful outcome’, she points out.
Referring to past efforts for a solution, Holguin said that in the last 10 years ‘realities on the ground have deeply changed’, expressing the belief that a renovated dialogue ‘could actually motivate both sides to agree to a pathway in which both can prosper with security and opportunities’.
She reiterates her invitation to Cypriots ‘to design a shared prosperous and secure future that will uphold and respect your interests and rights’, expressing the conviction that Cyprus ‘truly has the potential to become a central regional actor by uniting around common interests, while respecting its own internal characteristics and diversity’, especially in this ‘complex’ Eastern Mediterranean region. She also stresses that the status quo ‘is no longer a guarantee of stability and security in today’s fast-changing and agitated world’.
‘We have explored all possible ways to promote dialogue towards an agreement that would be satisfactory for all’, Holguin says, adding that, in the coming weeks and months, she will continue ‘sparing no efforts to work with the Secretary-General with the view to supporting Cypriots reaching an understanding and a final agreement that will bring security and prosperity to the whole island’.
‘It is my sincere hope that Cypriots, this time, will seize this historic opportunity to negotiate a lasting solution. I understand the difficulty in believing in a different Cyprus’, she says, urging Cypriots to not give up, and to not remain prisoners of a difficult past.
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.
After informal meetings in 2025, followed by a hiatus of several months, deliberations are underway for a new meeting in broader format to be held, as the term of the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres nears its end. María Angela Holguín, Guterres’ Personal Envoy on Cyprus, is tasked to engage with the parties.