The meeting between the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, lasted approximately half an hour yesterday in Brussels. Upon departure, the Secretary-General did not respond to a question on whether he is optimistic and limited himself to a very formal and particularly brief statement.
In contrast, President Christodoulides answered questions from a large delegation of 16 Greek Cypriot and two Turkish Cypriot journalists, referring to the need for substantive progress, clear political will and specific preparatory work, without providing further information on how this will be achieved, what the timeline is or what the precise direction should be.
Specifically, President Christodoulides stated that it was a “very substantive and very productive discussion” and said he was pleased, as he shares with the Secretary-General the same objective regarding the Cyprus issue. The president clarified that both the Secretary-General and himself support the need for substantive progress before the completion of Mr Guterres’ term at the end of the current year. He noted that the meeting of the Secretary-General prior to his own meeting, and with European Council President Charles Michel immediately afterwards, demonstrates that the European Union can provide meaningful support. On how this development can be achieved in practice when discussions are limited to informal meetings, the president referred to efforts aimed at establishing a clear political will and specific preparatory work that will lead to an informal conference capable of delivering a result. Responding to a relevant question, the president made clear that there was no discussion regarding the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, María Ángela Holguín. He stated that the Secretary-General has a very specific direction, which he discusses with him and which is, as he said, in the right direction. When asked what this direction is, he replied that if progress is to be achieved, there should be no public negotiation.
Meeting with Ursula von der Leyen
Prior to the meeting with the Secretary-General, the President of the Republic held a brief meeting with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, during which, according to his statements, the EU response regarding financial support to address the challenges arising from foot-and-mouth disease was discussed, as well as measures by the European Commission to protect Cyprus from similar livestock crises in the future.
Specifically on the issue of foot-and-mouth disease, the president thanked Ms von der Leyen for the response to the request of the Republic of Cyprus for substantial financial support from the Commission, not only to address immediate challenges but also for the reactivation of the livestock sector.
The discussion also covered developments in the Middle East and the assistance received by Cyprus from EU member states to address the crisis, Cyprus’ course towards accession to the Schengen area, financial support for Lebanon to address the humanitarian crisis, as well as Cyprus’ willingness to host a meeting between Israel and Lebanon.
Regarding the Cyprus issue, during his discussion with the President of the European Commission, President Christodoulides reiterated that neither the Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the European Union nor the parliamentary elections in Cyprus affect in any way his readiness to resume negotiations on the basis of the agreed framework, making use of the negotiating acquis.
Finally, the president repeated what he had stated earlier during his address at the European Policy Centre, noting in particular that the response of EU member states to the request of the Republic of Cyprus to address the crisis created as a result of the war in the Middle East “make history books”.
“Without activating Article 42(7) of the European Union, the response of member states gave substance, for the first time, to this specific article and it is a very good opportunity for the European Union to discuss the issue and to put in place all those mechanisms that must be activated in case a member state of the European Union is attacked,” he said, stressing that, as also stated by EU institutional leaders, an attack against one member state is an attack against the European Union itself.