Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Cyprus, Colin Stewart, had a meeting with President Nikos Christodoulides, on Tuesday afternoon at the Presidential Palace, as part of Stewart’s preparations for his briefing of the Security Council on July 14, his last before his retirement from the UN. As he stated after the meeting, he will also meet with Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar next week for the same purpose.
Government Spokesperson Konstantinos Leymbiotis said in statements after the meeting that “the President of the Republic and Stewart “had a very constructive discussion, an exchange of views, in view of the upcoming multilateral conference.”
He explained that the meeting took place before Stewart’s departure for the United Nations, where he will brief the UN Security Council on the reports concerning good offices and the peacekeeping force.
He also noted that Stewart briefed the President of the Republic on his meeting today with the EU Special Representative for Cyprus, Johannes Hahn. He added that “the President of the Republic reiterated, once again, the importance of achieving progress and reaching a conclusion on the six issues agreed at the previous multilateral conference in Geneva, as we move towards the multilateral conference in July”.
For his part, Colin Stewart confirmed that he had “a very good meeting with Mr. Christodoulides”, adding that he would meet with Tatar next week. “these meetings are ahead of my trip to New York, where I’ll be briefing the Security Council, scheduled for the 14th of July”, he explained.
“This will be my last briefing to the Security Council, as I am retiring from the UN in August. So after the Security Council briefing, I will come back to Cyprus and pack up and leave”, Stewart noted, adding that he will meet with the two leaders again for a proper farewell before leaving.
Asked if the last meetings would be separate, he said he will see them separately for sure, adding he was open and willing to other arrangements, depending on how things stand at the time. He also said that Holguin “will be also having meetings with the leaders, we’ll coordinate closely with her”.
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.
UN Secretary General announced that an informal meeting on Cyprus in a broader format will be held at the end of July, following a similar meeting in Geneva, on March 17-18. The two sides agreed to proceed with a number of initiatives, involving the opening of crossing points, the creation of a Technical Committee on Youth and other initiatives in the buffer zone and throughout the island.
The UN Secretary-General António Guterres announced in early May the appointment of María Angela Holguín Cuéllar of Colombia as his Personal Envoy on Cyprus, who is tasked to reengage with the parties in order to work on next steps on the Cyprus issue and advise him. Holguín completed a previous assignment as Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General on Cyprus from January to July 2024.
The European Commission designated Johannes Hahn, a former European Commissioner, as Special Envoy for Cyprus to contribute to the settlement process, in close cooperation with Holguín.