Pascoe announced UN Standby Team of Mediation Experts

by Apostolis Zoupaniotis

United Nations, (CNA) – UN Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe has announced the creation of a UN Standby Team of Mediation Experts who would help carry out the Secretary-General’s efforts for fast and effective mediation, adding that they could also help in the case of Cyprus.

Asked by CNA how this team can help in Cyprus, Pascoe said that, “it depends what kind of negotiations you get into. I only mentioned it for the first time in this connection”.

“Clearly”, he said, “there was a tremendous amount of expertise that went into earlier, and negotiations in Cyprus. These are very complicated issues and it is just possible that, that may be called on for something like that again, if we get into serious negotiations, that’s all. I’m not saying anything more about it”.

Asked about the UN plans for Cyprus, Pascoe said that, “we’ll have an announcement of what we are going to do, I think probably in the next week or two”.

“Certainly”, he said, “the important thing is the developments on the island, what the new leadership of the Greek-Cypriots and the leadership of the Turkish-Cypriots decide when they’ll have their meeting as they work forward”.

Pascoe added that “right now we are quite involved through Michael Moller, the Special Representative, he’s been talking to both, has talked to both sides at this point, he is working it”.

“So, I think that this process is to move forward. I do not want to make any statements or announcements of what we are doing until it is all tied down and we know exactly what is happening but I think in principle there has been an extremely strong interest in having UN involvement as the two sides trying to work together. So we have said all along that we want to help”, he continued.

Meanwhile, UN Spokeswoman Michelle Montas has said that Michael Moeller has in the last week met individually with both Greek-Cypriot leader, Demetris Christofias and Turkish-Cypriot leader, Mehmet Ali Talat.

“Both leaders have indicated that they are keen to meet each other. UN Peace Keeping Force in Cyprus has started preparations to host such a meeting which could take place during the second half of this month”, she added.

According to UNFICYP, Montas said, the agenda of the encounter will be decided by the two sides, who will also determine how to take the process forward.

She added that it is expected that the opening of the Nicosia’s Ledra Street crossing will be high on the agenda, on the meeting’s agenda.

“In this context UNFICYP says it is ready to move quickly to have open the crossing once the leaders have taken the decision to do so”, she concluded.