UN Secretary-General António Guterres will visit Cyprus at the end of July as part of a wider tour of the Near and Middle East, diplomatic sources have told Politis. The head of the international organisation will hold meetings with the two leaders and with organised groups on the island, aiming to give momentum to efforts to restart substantive negotiations toward a resolution of the Cyprus problem.
Well-placed diplomatic sources confirmed to Politis a report carried on Thursday morning (16 July) by the Cyprus News Agency on a possible visit by Guterres to Cyprus, which would coincide with the presence on the island of the UN secretary-general's Personal Envoy on Cyprus, María Ángela Holguín. According to the same sources, Guterres will arrive in Cyprus on the evening of 27 July via Jordan, following a visit to Syria.
Contacts begin
The following day, 28 July, the UN secretary-general will hold separate meetings with the two leaders. His meeting with President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulides will take place at the Presidential Palace, after which Guterres will meet Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman at the so-called presidential palace of the Turkish Cypriot community. On the same day, Guterres will also meet the two sides' negotiators and hold contacts with civil society groups.
On 29 July, Guterres will hold a joint meeting with both leaders at the residence of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, in the buffer zone within Nicosia's old airport. The two sides will then hold a joint press conference, at which significant statements on the Cyprus problem are expected.
A dual objective
The planned visit by the UN secretary-general serves two purposes. First, high-level meetings with the two leaders in Cyprus are intended to help determine the content of a possible five-party conference on the Cyprus problem within September. Guterres is seeking to ensure that any such conference is results-oriented, avoiding the fruitless discussions of the past. During his high-level meetings with the two leaders, Guterres will also seek to establish timelines for the process that would follow the Cyprus problem, should efforts to restart talks succeed.
The UN secretary-general's second objective is to engage with civil society on both sides, encouraging organised groups to become actively involved in the process.
A tour subject to conditions
It is worth noting that diplomatic sources stressed to Politis that Guterres's tour of Syria, Jordan and Cyprus depends on the security situation across the wider Middle East. Should there be a serious escalation on the Iran front, with attacks from the sides involved, the secretary-general's regional tour would most likely be cancelled. Guterres will be accompanied on the tour by the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix and Rosemary DiCarlo, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs.
Diplomatic sources told Politis that the UN secretary-general fully understands that Turkey holds the key to resolving the Cyprus problem, and that the stance of Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman also depends on it. Ankara therefore needs to show a constructive attitude and adopt positions that facilitate efforts to restart talks. To that end, António Guterres and María Ángela Holguín have recently been in contact with the Turkish side on the Cyprus problem. Guterres has also spoken recently with Turkey's foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, on the issue.
The appointment of Raffaele Fitto
The European Commission recently appointed its Executive Vice-President for Cohesion and Reforms, Raffaele Fitto, as the EU's Special Representative for Cyprus. According to the Commission, Fitto will work closely with the UN Secretary-General's Personal Envoy, María Ángela Holguín, engaging with all parties involved with the aim of helping create the conditions for a resumption of negotiations and the achievement of a comprehensive, viable and lasting solution to the Cyprus problem, on the basis of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the European acquis.
A new plan
The reports of an imminent visit by the UN secretary-general come after various leaks about a new and more flexible plan for the Cyprus problem, pointing to an evolving process with transitional stages and other new ideas. According to a recent Politis report, the new plan would provide for the creation of a presidential council within the framework of a loose federation. On the question of guarantees, the United Nations appears to view Cyprus' accession to NATO favourably.
