UN expected to renew UNFICYP mandate

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The United Nations Security Council is expected to adopt a resolution at the end of January extending the mandate of the peacekeeping force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for another six months, until July 31.

Procedures are already underway for its approval, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Demetris Demetriou.

He said the Greek Cypriot side is not satisfied with the UN Secretary General’s report, which circulated as an official document on January 13, because of its “subjective and non-objective views”.

Demetriou said that an objective and accurate report should normally call on all sides to adhere to Cyprus’ agreed solution framework, which is none other than the Bizonal Bicommunal Federation with political equality.

UN head of mission in Cyprus, Colin Stewart, is in New York and expected to brief the Security Council on January 17, given the resolution to renew the mandate of the UN Peacekeeping Force.

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ report on UNFICYP records the lack of common ground between the two sides for peace talks that will lead to a mutually agreed solution.

He proposed to the Security Council extend the mission’s mandate for six months, until July 31, 2023.

Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulidis said Nicosia “did not appreciate the introduction of subjective views” in the two reports of the Secretary-General, one on his Good Offices and one on UNFICYP.

Kasoulides said such views “allow not the Secretary-General, but those who advise the Secretary-General, to put us in the same boat in terms of rhetoric among the leaders of the illegal regime and Ankara.”