UNSG’s Personal Envoy for Cyprus, Maria Angela Holguin, who is expected on the island in eight days, will hold contacts focusing on the substance of the Cyprus issue, CNA has learnt.
Maria Angela Holguin will have separate meetings with the two leaders, President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman. It has not yet been clarified if a trilateral meeting will take place, as was the case during her last visit to Cyprus.
According to CNA sources, Holguin’s discussions will focus on the Guterres framework and the convergences so far. In addition, it will also be investigated whether conditions allow for an informal 5+1 meeting on Cyprus in July.
During her meetings, she will also discuss the progress of the implementation of the Confidence Building Measures that have been agreed so far. The same sources, however, said that so far no progress seems to have been made on the issue of opening new crossing points.
Holguin may also meet with civil society organisations, as she does on all her trips to Cyprus, but her program has not yet been finalised.
It is recalled that yesterday, Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides expressed hope for the resumption of Cyprus talks, referring to a window of opportunity ahead of the completion of the UN Secretary General’s term by the end of the year adding that “we really want more than anything else to reach a positive outcome.”
It is noted that the Turkish Cypriot leader has said that for an informal summit to take place abroad, there should be progress in Cyprus and he insisted on his 4-point methodology proposal.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results due to Turkish intransigence. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
In 2025 the Secretary-General hosted two informal meetings on Cyprus, in March in Geneva and in July in New York, while a tripartite meeting with the Cyprus leaders was also held in late September, at the end of the UN General Assembly High Level Week. An informal meeting in broader format that was expected to take place before the end of 2025, is yet to be announced. María Angela Holguín, the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy on Cyprus, is tasked to engage with the parties.
