Cyprus President, Nicos Anastasiades, will attend a dinner for the EU and NATO leaders, that will take place in Madrid next week.
Director of Anastasiades’ Press Office, Andreas Iosif, said in a written statement that on June 28 the President will travel to the Spanish capital, where the NATO summit will take place. As he noted, President Anastasiades has been invited and will attend the dinner which the Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, will be hosting one the sidelines of the summit for the EU and NATO leaders, during which Anastasiades will deliver a speech.
According to Iosif, Anastasiades’ trip to Madrid will give him the opportunity to hold bilateral meetings with foreign leaders and brief them on issues concerning Cyprus, with the Cyprus problem being at the top of the agenda.
“His proposal for the implementation of CBMs that will help the whole process and the need for the Turkish side to abandon any provocative actions and its intransigent position will be the focus of President Anastasiades’ contacts,” Iosif said, adding that the the President will return to Cyprus on June 30.
On June 27, at 1130, Anastasiades will meet at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia with the UNSG’s Special Representative in Cyprus, Colin Stewart. The meeting will take place in the presence of Cyprus’ Foreign Minister and the negotiator of the Greek Cypriot side on the Cyprus problem.
Iosifi said that President Anastasiades will present once again the positions of the Greek Cypriot side and will reiterate the will and commitment for the resumption of the negotiating process for a Cyprus settlement.
On July 1st, Anastasiades will meet at 1130 at the Presidential Palace with the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, at Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Miroslav Jenca.
According to Iosif, Anastasiades will reiterate the readiness and the will of the Greek Cypriot side for the resumption of the negotiations for a Cyprus settlement.
“He will reiterate that the agreed solution of the Cyprus problem is the bizonal bicommunal federation and that the Turkish Cypriot side needs to abandon its unacceptable position that there are two states in Cyprus. President Anastasiades will once again put forward to Jenca the issue of Turkey’s and the Turkish Cypriot side’s illegal activities and will ask for the reversal of the fait accompli in Varosha,” Iosif noted.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results.
Source: Cyprus News Agency