Nicosia, Cyprus. President Nikos Christodoulides said on Tuesday he was in close contact with senior European Union officials attending the Nato summit in Turkey as discussions continued over linking progress on the Cyprus problem to EU-Turkey relations. He said there was no pressing deadline for progress on the Cyprus issue.
Comments on Cyprus negotiations
Speaking in Nicosia, Christodoulides rejected suggestions that time was running out to achieve progress on the Cyprus issue.
“We do not feel there is a pressing deadline,” he said. “If it were possible, we would like to see substantive developments towards a Cyprus settlement even tomorrow.”
Contact with EU officials
The president said the current diplomatic momentum was the result of his own initiatives and pointed to what he described as growing European Union engagement in the process.
He said he remained in contact, particularly with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, regarding discussions taking place alongside the Nato summit and expressed hope they would produce positive results.
Christodoulides said he had exchanged messages with von der Leyen on Monday and that the two had agreed to speak by telephone later on Tuesday.
EU-Turkey relations and upcoming meeting
Christodoulides referred to an upcoming dinner involving Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of the European Council António Costa and von der Leyen, saying he could not predict its outcome.
He said he was confident that both Costa and von der Leyen would convey Cyprus’ longstanding position that progress in EU-Turkey relations should be linked to positive developments on the Cyprus issue.
“Everything depends on Turkey’s behaviour and on what President Erdogan says,” Christodoulides said, adding that Nicosia, the European Commission and the European Council were “moving within the same framework”.
Reference to UN report
Asked about the latest United Nations report, which referred to three Greek Cypriots allegedly firing at UN peacekeepers, Christodoulides said UN reports had historically sought to maintain a balance between the two sides.