Top UN official to meet Cypriot leaders

1012 views
1 min read

UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, will visit Cyprus next week to hold meetings with President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar.

The UN official’s visit aims to continue the efforts made by the organisation at the highest level to revitalise the process for a solution to the Cyprus problem.

A well-informed source told CNA that arrangements for her meetings with Christodoulides and Tatar would be made once the date of DiCarlo’s visit is finalised.

The same source did not rule out the possibility of DiCarlo meeting with other stakeholders on the island.

Furthermore, the source noted that DiCarlo is more senior in the UN hierarchy than the Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and Americas in the United Nations Department of Political Affairs, Miroslav Jenča, who had visited Cyprus three times last year.

The source explained that DiCarlo reports directly to the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, whereas Jenča reports to DiCarlo.

DiCarlo will come to Cyprus from New York, and afterwards, she will visit Brussels, where the UNSG will also be present to attend a working lunch with the EU leaders during the European Council meeting on March 23-24.

Christodoulides held his first meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar on 23 February to try and break the ice on frozen reunification talks.

Diplomats have struggled to move the dial on Cyprus talks as Tatar insists on the recognition of two separate sovereign states, rejecting the loose federal model promoted under the UN umbrella.

All UN peace talks have yet to yield results; the last collapsed at Crans-Montana, Switzerland, in July 2017.