On the eve of the European Council, where he was due to brief his counterparts on discussions, the President of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, stressed, on Wednesday 19 March, that, for the first time since 2017 in Crans-Montana, and following the informal meeting of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot parties in Geneva, the Cyprus issue was “on a positive trajectory”.
At a press briefing with the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, Mr Christodoulides recalled that the two parties had agreed that the Secretary-General of the United Nations should appoint a special envoy for the next steps “in order to achieve the resumption of talks”. The two parties also agreed on confidence-building measures and agreed to hold a further meeting by the end of July.
On his arrival at the European Council on Thursday 20 March, the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, underlined his satisfaction with the results of the meeting.
In its statement on Thursday, the European People’s Party, including Mr Christodoulides and Mr Mitsotakis, welcomed the Geneva meeting. “The reunification of Cyprus is a priority for the EU, which is ready to step up its efforts and play an active role in supporting the UN-led process with all the tools at its disposal”, stressed the EPP, adding that the reunification of the island would have a “catalytic effect” on EU-Turkey relations and on the region in general. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant with the editorial staff)