A serious, multi-level effort is currently under way, both publicly and behind the scenes, based on a specific plan by the United Nations Secretary-General, for a new meeting on the Cyprus issue during the summer, with the aim of restarting negotiations and creating the prospect of a settlement, Director of the Press Office of the President of the Republic, Victoras Papadopoulos, said on Sunday.
Speaking at a memorial service for those who fell during the 1974 Turkish invasion from Bellapais, as well as the officers and soldiers of the 33rd Commando Squadron, held at Saint Eleftherios Church in Mouttagiaka, in the Limassol Distinct, Papadopoulos said that ‘these are critical and decisive moments’ as regards the Cyprus issue.
‘A serious, multi-level effort is under way, both in the public eye and behind the scenes, based on a specific plan by the UN Secretary-General, to convene a new meeting in a border format on the Cyprus issue during the summer, which would lead to the resumption of negotiations in a manner that creates the prospect of a settlement’, he said.
Referring to the ‘prolonged deadlock’ of recent years and the ‘uncompromising stance of the Turkish side’ for a two-state solution, which he noted, is outside the agreed United Nations framework, Papadopoulos said that, despite the difficulties, ‘which no one underestimates, Cyprus is now faced with a renewed initiative by the Secretary-General’. He said this had been made possible through the Government’s efforts to break the impasse and restart negotiations in a way that offers a credible prospect of resolving the Cyprus issue through a solution that is, above all, functional and sustainable, in line with United Nations resolutions, the EU acquis, and European principles and values.
‘The President of the Republic, with demonstrated political will, is doing everything possible to ensure the success of the new initiative by Mr António Guterres and his Personal Envoy, Ms María Ángela Holguín’, he said.
Papadopoulos also stressed that unity on the domestic front was ‘an essential prerequisite’ for the success of the effort.
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.