Nicosia, Cyprus. European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday that progress toward a solution to the Cyprus problem could help efforts to resolve other geopolitical issues. She also called on the EU and Turkey to address the Cyprus issue and support UN-led mediation and negotiation efforts.
Kallas comments on Cyprus talks
Kallas told Turkey’s Anadolu Agency that achieving a peaceful solution to the Cyprus issue would open the door to resolving many problems.
She said the EU and Turkey should also address the Cyprus issue and support the mediation and negotiation efforts being undertaken by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Diplomatic efforts continue
Her comments come as efforts intensify on all sides to resume negotiations in earnest on the Cyprus problem.
Unconfirmed reports over the weekend suggested the process may slow somewhat, with reports indicating that UN envoy Maria Angela Holguin may wait until after next week’s Nato leaders’ summit to continue her contacts.
It is expected that Holguin’s next significant meeting will be with European Council President Antonio Costa in Brussels. However, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said on Monday that the meeting will now not take place until July 13.
Nato-related discussions
Confirmation that Holguin will wait until after the Nato summit in Ankara before resuming her contacts comes as discussions on security guarantees in a post-solution Cyprus focus on the idea of those guarantees being provided through a Nato-based structure.
Those guarantees may take the form of the new Cypriot republic joining Nato, alongside the presence of Nato troops from Turkey, Greece, France, the United Kingdom and the United States on the island.
However, when asked about the possibility of Holguin meeting Nato officials while in Brussels, which is also home to Nato headquarters, and about Nato-based security guarantees in a post-solution Cyprus, a Nato official told the Cyprus Mail that there are no meetings planned with the envoy and that the topic has not been discussed at Nato.
Meeting timeline may shift
Guterres and Holguin met in New York on Friday, and it had initially been hoped that Holguin might return to the island before the end of this month. She is now likely not to return until the second half of next month.
This is also likely to delay the planned dates for an enlarged meeting on the Cyprus problem involving the island’s two sides, the three guarantor powers Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom, and the United Nations.