Athens, Greece. United Nations envoy Maria Angela Holguin met Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis on Wednesday in the latest stop of her current round of meetings on the Cyprus problem. The meeting comes as the UN pursues a new initiative aimed at resuming formal negotiations on the issue.
Greek position after Athens meeting
Following the meeting, the Greek foreign ministry said Gerapetritis had expressed Greece’s confidence in UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ efforts towards finding a comprehensive, just, and sustainable solution to the Cyprus issue.
The ministry said such a solution must be found within the framework of the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions.
It added that Gerapetritis stressed the importance of maintaining the momentum built on the Cyprus issue over the past two and a half years.
According to the ministry, Greece, in solidarity with the Republic of Cyprus, remains ready to contribute constructively to the next steps, with the aim of achieving the resumption of talks on the basis of the agreed framework.
Regional meetings and next stops
Before arriving in Athens, Holguin met Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Ankara on Monday. She had also held meetings last Friday with President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman.
Her next stop will be Brussels, before she returns to Cyprus for another round of meetings with Erhurman and Christodoulides before the end of this month.
Plans for enlarged meeting
Last week, Holguin confirmed that an enlarged meeting on the Cyprus problem is currently intended to be convened either in late July or early August.
The meeting is expected to involve the island’s two sides, the three guarantor powers Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom, and the United Nations.
UN initiative and stated goals
The latest round of contacts comes as the UN has undertaken what was described as a new initiative to bring about a resumption of formal negotiations aimed at solving the Cyprus problem.
Both leaders had stressed that they would be aiming for tangible results at the next enlarged meeting. After his meeting with Holguin, Christodoulides said the goal is for the enlarged meeting to lead to an announcement on the resumption of talks.