A full and comprehensive reaffirmation of the negotiating acquis, as it stood at the end of the Crans-Montana conference in 2017, is necessary for a new process to focus on the remaining issues, Greek Cypriot negotiator Menelaos Menelaou said. Safeguarding all convergences across all chapters, he said, is the only way for talks to concentrate exclusively on the open issues. In an interview with Kathimerini, Menelaou attributed the lack of progress towards an expanded conference to the distance that remains over Turkey’s stance, rather than to any lack of movement on substance, methodology or confidence-building measures. He noted that the negotiating acquis includes fundamental issues such as security and guarantees, which require a constructive contribution from the guarantor powers. Referring to the United Nations document on convergences, he described it as an objective record of the point at which the talks were interrupted, adding that there is no question of signing it and that it is not an interim agreement. He also rejected claims about seven points the UN Secretary-General is said to have left behind on his departure from Cyprus, saying António Guterres focused on substance and on specific confidence-building measures, such as crossing points and demining.
Crossing points and the rotating presidency
On crossing points, Menelaou said President Nikos Christodoulides explicitly accepted the Secretary-General’s compromise proposal on Mia Milia and the Athienou–Pyroi–Aglantzia route. When the Turkish Cypriot side asked for the Louroujina–Lympia crossing to be included, the Greek Cypriot side proposed, for the sake of balance, that the Kokkina area be included as well. He rejected accusations of shifting demands, saying the delay in reaching agreement on crossing points is being used by the other side to hold up discussion of the substance of the Cyprus problem. On the rotating presidency, which the Turkish Cypriot side has set as a precondition, he explained that it is included in the convergences, but only within the framework of their comprehensive reaffirmation across all chapters, stressing that no unilateral conditions can be set for the start of negotiations. On Christodoulides’ 19-point proposal, Menelaou said the points were submitted orally during discussions on speeding up preparatory work. He added that the Greek Cypriot side will exhaust every opportunity until the end of Guterres’ term, recalling that the UN has institutional continuity and clear terms of reference stemming from Security Council resolutions.
Source: CNA
