National Council convenes in Geneva ahead of informal meeting on Cyprus

The National Council has convened in Geneva under President Nikos Christodoulides, ahead of the informal meeting in a broader format on Cyprus, which begins in the evening with a dinner hosted by the UN Secretary-General for the heads of delegations of the parties participating in the meeting.

Participating in the National Council are former President of the Republic, Nicos Anastasiades, leaders of parliamentary parties DISY, Annita Demetriou, AKEL, Stefanos Stefanou, DIKO, Nicholas Papadopoulos, EDEK, Marinos Sizopoulos, DEPA, Marios Garoyian, and the Greens’ Vice President, Kyriakos Tsimillis, Minister of Foreign Affairs Constantinos Kombos, Deputy Minister for European Affairs, Marilena Raouna, negotiator of the Greek Cypriot side, Menelaos Menelaou, National Security Advisor Tasos Tzionis, and Attorney General George Savvides.

President Christodoulides and negotiator Menelaou will attend the dinner on behalf of the Greek Cypriot side. After the dinner, the President is expected to chair another meeting of the National Council.

On 18 March, the UN Secretary-General will hold bilateral meetings with each side between 9 am and 10.45 am, followed by a plenary session at the Palais des Nations, the UN headquarters in Geneva, between noon and 3 pm.

The Greek Cypriot and Greek delegations, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres, are staying at the same hotel, the InterContinental, where the dinner and bilateral meetings are to take place.

The United Nations will be represented at the Informal Meeting by the UN Secretary-General, the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peace-building Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Cyprus, Colin Stewart.

(Source: CNA, Photos: PIO)