The UNSG’s Personal Envoy for Cyprus, Maria Angela Holguin, said Antonio Guterres is arriving in Cyprus this afternoon to encourage the people and the leaders to look forward to negotiations.
In statements after being received by President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, at the Presidential Palace, Holguin said they are preparing the SG’s visit which starts on Monday. ‘The mission of the SG is to facilitate, encourage the people and the leaders to look forward for a negotiation’, she told reporters adding that is ‘why he is coming’.
Holguin said Guterres ‘is visiting Cyprus after pushing, supporting Cyprus for almost 10 years. So he is coming for that and I hope we can have some progress’.
She noted that she is in Cyprus after ‘a long trip to Brussels and Ankara with good meetings, talking about all the necessary points that we need for to move forward’.
‘And I am very happy to have the Secretary General here this afternoon’, she added.
She is set to meet later on Monday morning with the Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman.
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. 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.