Stewart to brief UN Security Council ahead of Mitsotakis meeting with Guterres

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNFICYP, Colin Stewart, will brief the Security Council on 11 July, in a closed session to be held in the morning (New York time).

The briefing comes in the wake of Antonio Guterres' reports on the peacekeeping force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) and the UN Secretary General's Good Offices mission to the island.

On 10 July, the UN Secretary General's Personal Envoy for Cyprus, Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar, submitted her report to the UN Secretary General's office, while according to the schedule, they were to hold a meeting at the international organisation's headquarters in New York.

According to Cyprus News Agency reports, Holguin will have a meeting on 11 July with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who is in Washington for the 75th NATO Summit.

Holguin also asked to meet with Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis, who is also in Washington accompanying Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, with Greek diplomatic sources confirming the meeting.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis also discussed the Cyprus issue during his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington on Wednesday.

The Greek Prime Minister will travel to New York after the conclusion of the NATO Summit, where he will meet with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres tomorrow, Friday.

The meeting will focus on Greece's assumption of the position of non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (2025-26), as well as on the Cyprus issue and the work of the UN Secretary General's Personal Envoy for Cyprus.

On the Cyprus issue, the Greek Prime Minister will stress the need for the international organization to remain within the framework established by the Security Council resolutions, diplomatic sources said.

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. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres appointed María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar of Colombia as his personal envoy for Cyprus, to assume a Good Offices role on his behalf and search for common ground on the way forward in the Cyprus issue. 

(Source: CNA)