Informal Meeting on Cyprus continues in Geneva with bilateral meetings and plenary session

The informal meeting on Cyprus in a broader format in Geneva continues and concludes today with bilateral meetings of the UN Secretary-General with each delegation and the Plenary session.

Today, Tuesday, 18 March, the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, will have a bilateral meeting with the UK Minister of State for Europe, Stephen Doughty, at 9.40am (10.40am Cyprus time), while at 10.45am he will have a bilateral meeting with the UN Secretary-General, who will also hold meetings with the other participating parties to the conference.

At the bilateral meeting, President Christodoulides will be accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Constantinos Kombos, the Deputy Minister for European Affairs, Marilena Raouna, the Government Spokesperson, Konstantinos Letymbiotis, the negotiator of the Greek Cypriot side, Menelaos Menelaou, and the National Security Advisor, Tasos Tzionis.

The Plenary Session will take place at the Palais des Nations, the UN office in Geneva, between 13:00 and 16:00 (Cyprus time).

The President of the Republic will be accompanied to the Plenary Session by Menelaou, Letymbiotis, Raouna, Attorney of the Republic Mary-Ann Stavrinides and Professor of Law, Achilles Emilianides.

The completion of the Plenary Session will mark the end of the informal meeting on Cyprus in a broader format.

From Geneva, the President of the Republic will go to Brussels on Tuesday evening where he and the UN Secretary-General will brief the European Council, which will take place on 20-21 March, on the informal meeting.

According to the invitation sent by the President of the European Council to the EU leaders for the upcoming European Council, on Thursday  March 20, the leaders will have a working lunch with the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres.

Guterres had announced an Informal Meeting in a broader format, in Geneva, on March 17 and 18, to exchange views with the Cyprus President and the Turkish Cypriot leader on ways of achieving progress on the Cyprus issue, following their informal dinner on October 15, 2024, in New York. Representatives from Greece, Turkey and the UK are also attending the meeting.

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 due to Turkish intransigence. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced an expanded meeting, in Geneva, on March 17 and 18, to exchange views with the Cyprus President and the Turkish Cypriot leader on ways of achieving progress on the Cyprus issue, following their informal dinner on October 15, 2024, in New York. Representatives from Greece, Turkey and the UK also attend the meeting.

(Source: CNA)