The European Union’s envoy for the Cyprus problem Johannes Hahn is to return to Cyprus next week, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said on Saturday.

Speaking after President Nikos Christodoulides’ meeting with United Nations envoy Maria Angela Holguin, he said Hahn will be in Cyprus when Christodoulides, Holguin, and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman hold a tripartite meeting on Thursday – a fact he described as a “fortunate coincidence”.

He added that Holguin will hold a meeting with Hahn while they are both in Cyprus, while it is expected that Hahn will, like Holguin, hold meetings with both Christodoulides and Erhurman.

Hahn has visited the island once since his appointment was announced in May, holding meetings with both Christodoulides and Erhurman in Nicosia in June.

Christodoulides said at the time that Cyprus is counting on the EU’s support to bring about a return to negotiations on the Cyprus problem.

“We count on your support and the support of the European Union in order to resume negotiations that will lead us to the solution of the Cyprus problem,” he said, before stressing that “the role of the European Union is to support the United Nations’ effort, not to replace the UN effort”.

Erhurman met Hahn after Ersin Tatar, the Turkish Cypriot leader of the day, refused to do so, and wrote in a post on social media after the meeting that he had discussed a range of issues with him, including the framework for a Cyprus problem solution, electricity interconnection, and the property issue.

“Once again, we have the opportunity to explain things comprehensively. Dialogue and diplomacy are always good. We will keep talking to everyone, without getting tired or bored of explaining,” he said.