UN envoy optimistic about holding 5+1 meeting on Cyprus — Cyprus Mail

UN envoy for Cyprus María Ángela Holguín said after a meeting with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides that she remains optimistic about holding an enlarged 5+1 meeting by the end of the year. This format involves the two sides of the island, the three guarantor states — Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom — as well as the UN.

As Cyprus Mail reports, Holguín noted that holding the meeting depends on progress in confidence-building measures, methodology and the substantive part of the negotiations. According to her, UN Secretary-General António Guterres tasked her with making efforts to advance the settlement of the Cyprus issue until the end of her mandate.

Trilateral meeting in November

Holguín described her talks with Christodoulides as good and said she wanted to hear his assessment of the weekly meetings with Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman. She positively assessed the regular contacts between the leaders of the island's two communities.

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The UN envoy said that a trilateral meeting is scheduled for November 9 and expressed hope for a result as early as next week. After their latest meeting on Tuesday, Christodoulides and Erhürman agreed not to make further statements on specific aspects of the Cyprus issue at least until Holguín's arrival.

Differences over Varosha and crossing points

Before this meeting, Christodoulides insisted that his proposal to open and resettle the fenced-off area of Varosha under UN administration, as well as to open the port of Famagusta under EU control, is mutually beneficial. Erhürman said last week that he had rejected it because, in his view, it does not provide for the EU regulation on direct trade to enter into force.

The sides also have different approaches to opening new crossing points. The Greek Cypriot side considers the transit road between Athienou and the Nicosia suburb of Aglantzia to be one crossing point, while the Turkish Cypriot side considers it to be two. The issue of simultaneously opening the crossing between Louroujina and Lymbia remains unresolved.