President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, who departs on Saturday for Athens, has said that there is a possibility that he will meet with EU Special Representative for Cyprus, Rafaele Fitto, after his meeting with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
The President was replying to journalists’ questions on his arrival at the Timios Stavros Square, in Omodos, where he will address the inauguration event of the square.
Asked about his visit to Athens on Saturday, President Christodoulides said that “I will go on Saturday morning for an exchange of views” adding that coordination already exists, “but we considered it necessary to hold this meeting, in view of the very important visit of the UN Secretary-General.” It is noted that the UNSG will visit Cyprus 27-29 of July.
President Christodoulides added that there is a possibility “that we will have the EU Envoy, Mr Fitto, immediately afterwards”.
The President underlined that ‘we want to take advantage of this mobility that we have largely created through our actions, through our strategy, so that we can achieve the goal of resuming the talks on the basis of the agreed framework from where they were interrupted in 2017″.
Replying to another question about UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Cyprus Maria Angela Holguin, he said that she was in Brussels and had meetings with Fitto, during which she was informed about the EU’s positions on the Cyprus issue, which, as he said, ‘are completely aligned with the positions of the Republic of Cyprus.’
The President pointed out that a ‘very important meeting” is taking place tomorrow, as Holguin will be in Turkey, to meet with the Turkish Foreign Minister.
After Turkey, she will be in Cyprus, the President said.
‘We are in contact so that on Sunday or early Monday there will be a meeting with Holguin, in anticipation of the arrival of the UN Secretary-General,’ he concluded.
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. Executive Vice-President Raffaele Fitto acts as the European Commission’s Special Representative for Cyprus, succeeding EU special envoy Johannes Hahn.