FM discusses appointment of UN special envoy

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos met UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York to discuss the appointment of a special envoy and the next steps in resuming moribund Cyprus talks.

“I had a particularly constructive meeting with the Secretary-General in the context of our strong will to return to the negotiations from where they left off in Crans Montana and the objective of a substantive discussion that will lead to a resolution of the Cyprus problem and reunification of our country,” Kombos said after Tuesday’s meeting.

He said the initiative of Nicosia for a more constructive role of the EU in the Cyprus talks, under the auspices of the United Nations, was also discussed.

“We discussed with the Secretary-General his ideas and thoughts regarding the next steps and especially regarding the issue of appointing an envoy in the next period.

“From our point of view, the message was clear; we are ready for the next step.”

He said, “We are not yet at the stage of discussing names” for a UN envoy.

“The Secretary-General understands the usefulness of creating the Euro-Turkish dimension, which can provide incentives so that we can have the other side back at the negotiation table,” Kombos told CNA.

MFA earlier had meetings with the UN Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix. He told the CNA that they discussed UNFICYP and its role.

Kombos also met with the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary Di Carlo.

“It was a discussion of political content, which moved in the same direction as that of the Secretary-General. How we proceed, and in what ways we can go further,” he said.

The last round of negotiations ended inconclusively in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana.