Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides will travel to Athens on Saturday for talks with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, focusing on the latest developments in the Cyprus issue ahead of next week’s visit by UN Secretary-General Ant?nio Guterres to the island.
According to Director of the press office of the President of the Cyprus Republic Victor Papadopoulos, the meeting will take place at 11:30 a.m. at the Maximos Mansion.
President Christodoulides is expected to brief Mitsotakis on recent developments in the Cyprus issue, while the two leaders will also exchange views in preparation for Guterres’ visit to Cyprus from July 27 to 29.
The one-on-one meeting will be followed by expanded talks involving the delegations of the two governments.
Accompanying the President will be Minister of Foreign Affairs Constantinos Kombos, Deputy Minister for European Affairs Marilena Raouna, Greek Cypriot negotiator Menelaos Menelaou, the Director of the press office of the President of the Cyprus Republic Victor Papadopoulos and other officials. President Christodoulides is due to return to Cyprus later on Saturday.
The meeting comes as diplomatic efforts continue to revive negotiations on the Cyprus issue. Guterres’ visit follows informal talks held earlier this year, with renewed efforts under way to prepare the ground for a broader meeting involving the parties.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied the island’s northern third. Repeated UN-led efforts to reunify the island have failed to produce a settlement, with the last formal round of negotiations collapsing at Crans-Montana, Switzerland, in 2017.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed María Ángela Holguín as his Personal Envoy on Cyprus to engage with the parties, while European Commission Executive Vice-President Raffaele Fitto serves as the EU’s Special Representative for Cyprus.