Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said Wednesday that the substance of the Cyprus reunification dispute was discussed for the first time since the collapse of peace talks at Crans-Montana in 2017 during a trilateral meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman.
Christodoulides said Guterres reaffirmed his commitment to UN Security Council resolutions, which envision a bicommunal, bizonal federation and stressed that any renewed negotiations would build on previous agreements rather than begin from scratch.
He also welcomed broad support for a UN proposal to convene an informal expanded meeting involving the guarantor powers to prepare the ground for restarting formal negotiations.
The Cypriot president highlighted the European Union’s increased engagement, saying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is ready to establish a legal team to support the EU’s special envoy on Cyprus.
He added that Turkey’s longstanding goal of improving relations with the EU could provide additional momentum for efforts to revive the stalled peace process.
