The National Council reaffirmed its support on Friday for President Nikos Christodoulides’ efforts to restart negotiations on the Cyprus problem, welcoming next week’s visit by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the appointment of a new EU envoy.
In a joint statement issued after the council meeting, members welcomed Guterres’ visit as “a practical demonstration of his personal commitment” to efforts to resolve the Cyprus issue.
They also welcomed the appointment of European Commission executive vice president Raffaele Fitto as the EU’s special envoy for the Cyprus problem.
The council said that, while respecting the differing positions of political parties, members supported the president’s efforts to resume negotiations aimed at achieving a comprehensive settlement.
Before issuing the statement, Christodoulides briefed party leaders on developments since the National Council’s previous meeting on June 22.
Disy leader Annita Demetriou described the coming days as “very important moments” and said her party would support the government’s diplomatic efforts.
“The Cyprus issue is and remains an absolute national priority,” she said, adding that Disy would back “every effort in the right direction” to resume negotiations from the point at which they ended in Crans Montana.
She stressed the importance of preserving the existing negotiating framework and said the UN secretary general’s visit should be “utilised to the fullest”.
Akel leader Stefanos Stefanou also reiterated his party’s support for restarting negotiations from where they broke down in 2017, while preserving the convergences already achieved between the two sides.
He said it was too early to judge the prospects for progress.
“At this time we cannot determine how optimistic we can be,” Stefanou said, adding that developments would largely depend on Turkey’s position and the conditions identified by the UN secretary general for convening a new informal expanded meeting.
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