Nicosia, Cyprus. Reports on Wednesday evening said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is seriously disturbed by the lack of progress on the Cyprus problem following a tripartite meeting involving his envoy and the two Cypriot leaders. The reports said he urged urgent steps on confidence-building measures and warned an enlarged meeting may not be convened without results.
Reports cite Guterres warning on enlarged meeting
Turkish public broadcaster TRT reported that Guterres emphasised the need for the leaders to take urgent steps to facilitate life between the two communities through confidence-building measures.
TRT also reported that he instructed UN envoy Maria Angela Holguin to tell the leaders that if no steps are taken on confidence-building measures, he would absolutely not convene an enlarged meeting after Wednesday’s tripartite meeting.
Holguin says no new enlarged meeting for now
Holguin said after Wednesday’s meeting that, for the time being, there will be no new enlarged meeting and that, for such a meeting to be arranged, results are needed on the confidence-building measures.
She added that she is waiting for something more, and when asked whether President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman had responded to her demand for more progress made on Tuesday, she said, “I think they might. Not yet.”
Despite the lack of results from her latest visit, Holguin said she is not disappointed, adding that processes are dynamic and that this one is slower but continuing.
Christodoulides outlines proposals and potential next steps
Christodoulides also said he was not disappointed upon returning to the presidential palace and outlined a five-point package of proposals he submitted to Holguin and Erhurman at the meeting.
He said he expressed readiness to announce additional unilateral measures for Turkish Cypriots and suggested that Greek Cypriot chief negotiator Menelaos Menelaou and Erhurman’s undersecretary Mehmet Dana meet within the next two weeks.
Christodoulides said the meeting should take place with one goal: the resumption of negotiations.
What steps do you think should be prioritised to achieve progress on confidence-building measures between the two communities?