UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres leaves office in December and is preparing his final report on the Cyprus problem to the Security Council. The report will focus specifically on progress towards an agreed starting point for substantive, results-oriented negotiations. Under Security Council Resolution 2815, this last act is expected in early January, by which time he will have handed over the baton.
The mission of his personal envoy, María Ángela Holguín, who has been in Cyprus since Thursday, takes place in this context. She is starting with separate contacts with President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman. The only joint meeting scheduled so far has been set for 9 November.
The effort to restart the talks remains fruitless. Guterres set clear preconditions, which he repeated during his visit to the island in July. The two leaders, however, agree neither on the steps for returning to the outstanding substantive issues nor on the methodology of a negotiation with a timeframe for its conclusion. Their poor record on confidence-building heightens doubts over whether they genuinely want to change the climate.
Holguín’s pointed message
María Ángela Holguín is frequently criticised by the press close to the Presidential Palace for only occasional engagement with the Cyprus problem and for personal ambitions. Her repeated tours and meetings over the past two years do not support such a picture. She herself locates the problem elsewhere: “There is not sufficient political will for serious engagement with the difficult issues that need to be resolved,” she told Alithia on 25 October.
The Colombian diplomat addresses public opinion openly, without diplomatic circumlocution. Speaking to Politis on 17 October, she posed a pointed question. For two years the sides have not agreed even on opening a crossing point, on demining or on tackling plastic pollution. How, then, will they agree on a common political, economic and social model that will overcome division and the growing estrangement between the communities?
Holguín’s approach is causing discomfort at the Presidential Palace. Christodoulides keeps returning with statements aimed at shaking off criticism of a lack of political will. “We are constantly putting forward proposals and new ideas, demonstrating in practice our will for positive developments on the Cyprus problem,” he said on 27 October.
Christodoulides has recently been referring to 19 ideas and proposals. The question remains, however, why he is tabling them only now, shortly before Guterres’ departure. He first presented them orally to Erhürman, and then to the Secretary-General during their brief meeting in New York at the end of September. What is certain is that this package of ideas has not prompted any positive reaction.
What is new on Varosha?
Among the 19 proposals, he included a long-forgotten proposal on Varosha and a crossing point of questionable usefulness, unrelated to any of the discussions held over the previous two years.
On 26 October, Christodoulides briefed the mayor and a delegation of Famagusta municipal council. In front of the cameras, he argued that the proposal for the fenced-off city is “new” and differs from that of 2005, although it is based on previous discussions. He also said that Erhürman had rejected it but that it remains on the table. According to information from the meeting, he asked the delegation to help “enrich” the proposal and to mobilise in its support.
The proposal provides for extending the buffer zone in Varosha so that the fenced-off area comes under UNFICYP control and, at a later stage, for the return of its Greek Cypriot residents. In return, Christodoulides proposed opening Famagusta port for direct trade by Turkish Cypriots under European supervision.
Nothing in these details shows what makes the proposal new or enriched. Nor is it clear on what basis Christodoulides claims that twenty years ago “we were close to having some result”. At Anorthosis on 27 October, Christodoulides described the return of the fenced-off area as “the most important Confidence-Building Measure”. He added that this is where everyone’s will to solve the Cyprus problem and achieve reunification will be judged.
According to some information, the proposal is being presented as “new” compared with the 2005 discussions because it is decoupled from the implementation of the Ankara Protocol and the lifting of Turkish restrictions on Cyprus-flagged ships. The Republic of Cyprus has also expressed readiness, should the proposal be implemented, to cover UNFICYP’s additional costs for overseeing it.
Wasted time
From what is known of Christodoulides’ “new proposal” on Varosha, nothing suggests that it can move forward. Over the years, Varosha’s residents have been passing away while watching the Greek Cypriot side’s position on the return of Varosha steadily deteriorate. Today, the issue goes far beyond the trade-off of direct trade through Famagusta port.
In 1994, Glafcos Clerides was discussing the return of Varosha in exchange for reopening Nicosia airport, to the benefit of Turkish Cypriots as well. In 2005, Tymbou airport and direct trade were added to the package for the return of Varosha, and the idea was abandoned by the Greek Cypriots. It remained a realistic option only within a comprehensive settlement, as Varosha would be returned immediately if an overall agreement were reached. That historic opportunity was lost at Crans-Montana in 2017.
Worst of all for Varosha’s residents, after the collapse and the dismantling of the negotiating landscape, Turkey opened Varosha while Nikos Christodoulides headed the Foreign Ministry. Today the city is a tourist spectacle of abandonment, opened with the aim of ensuring it is never returned. On assuming the Presidency, Christodoulides showed no particular engagement with Varosha. Plans for its reconstruction, intended among other things to encourage cooperation between the two communities, were left in the drawers.
Crossing points
The handling of new crossing points also appears haphazard. Christodoulides is reported to be proposing a link between Kampos and Tsakkistra, two villages in Troodos, and Karavostasi, in the wider Morphou area.
It is unclear whether the proposal forms part of the package of four new crossing points to which the sides committed in March 2025, intended to offer real added value in easing congestion at the existing nine. His handling appears erratic, as if he is seeking to disengage from that commitment, and in particular from discussion of the Mia Milia crossing point in eastern Nicosia. Christodoulides may not want to displease his supporters, mainly from DIKO and ELAM, who are categorically opposed to the opening of new crossing points.
Guterres’ final report
The window of opportunity for the Cyprus problem appears, in the end, to have been hermetically sealed. Guterres can, however, keep the prospect open for leaders of the two communities who sincerely wish to travel the last mile. He has bypassed the obstacles to recording the convergences and keeps the documents in the UN’s safe. With his final report, he may leave guidelines for the way forward.
