Papadopoulos to meet Kofi Annan in Paris

Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos and the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan are due to meet on February 28 in Paris in order to discuss the Cyprus problem. This will be the first significant sign of progress since Papadopoulos led the Greek Cypriot rejection of the UN Plan in April 2004.

According to an official press release the two have agreed to meet “in order to review and take stock of the situation in Cyprus and discuss ways of moving forward the process of re-uniting the island”.

President Papadopoulos said earlier on Wednesday that he was in contact with the Secretary General, “reiterating our wish and our call for the resumption as soon as possible of the effort for the preparation of talks, so talks can resume the soonest”.

Papadopoulos said that the main issue which Annan accepts is that any renewed effort for negotiation must be well prepared.

“During a dialogue, which is not well prepared and begins without preparation, if the two sides stick to their positions, soon it will come to a deadlock”, the President of Cyprus said, adding “it will be catastrophic to send the message that the Cyprus issue cannot be solved and that the only solution is the division”.

Responding to questions Papadopoulos said that the Greek Cypriot side had explained its positions to the UN with clarity and referred to a UN announcement “thanking our side for giving its positions in detail”.