The National Council, the top advisory body to the President on the handling of the Cyprus issue convened at around 10 am on Monday, chaired by President Nikos Christodoulides.
This is the first meeting of the National Council in its new composition following the parliamentary elections held last May and this is the first time that ALMA – Citizens for Cyprus and Direct Democracy parties participate in a National Council meeting.
Participating are President of DISY, Annita Demetriou, General Secretary of AKEL, Stefanos Stefanou, President of ELAM, Christos Christou, President of DIKO, Nicholas Papadopoulos, President of ALMA – Citizens for Cyprus, Odysseas Michaelides, the President of Direct Democracy, Fidias Panayiotou.
Also attending are the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Constantinos Kombos, Government Spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis, Deputy Government Spokesperson, Yiannis Antoniou, negotiator of the Greek Cypriot side, Menelaos Menelaou, National Security Advisor and Director of the Cyprus Intelligence Service (KYP), Tasos Tzionis, Director of the President’s Diplomatic Office, Doros Venezis, and the Director of the President’s Press Office, Victor Papadopoulos.
According to information, former President of the Republic, Nikos Anastasiades informed the Council that he would not be attending.
The National Council will be informed about the latest developments in the Cyprus issue, following the recent visit to Cyprus of UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, María Ángela Holguín.
After her visit to Cyprus, Holguín had meetings in Turkey and Greece with the Foreign Ministers of the two countries and is expected to return to Cyprus in the coming weeks after holding contacts in Brussels.
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.