Brussels: The European People’s Party expressed its support for efforts to resolve the Cyprus issue in a statement issued on Thursday following its summit attended by the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, before the European Council meeting in Brussels.
According to Cyprus News Agency, President Christodoulides suggested during a telephone conversation with the party’s President, Manfred Weber, on Monday, June 23, that the EPP statement include important references to the Republic of Cyprus. The statement welcomes the appointment of Johannes Hahn as Special Representative of the European Union for Cyprus and Maria Angela Holguin as Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Cyprus. It also expects tangible steps from Turkey towards the resumption of negotiations within the framework of the UN Security Council resolutions.
In this context, the party looks forward to the next expanded meeting to be convened by the UN Secretary-General at the end of July. The EPP statement also includes a reference to its support for Cyprus’s efforts to achieve full membership of the Schengen area by 2026, calling on the European Commission to actively promote and accelerate this process.
Furthermore, the same sources note that the inclusion of references to Cyprus in the EPP statement was made in cooperation with the President of DISY and President of the House of Representatives, Annita Demetriou, who also participated in the party meeting. They add that the President of the Republic expressed his gratitude to Fran§ois-Xavier Bellamy, Permanent Rapporteur on the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) of the European Parliament, and EPP MEP Loukas Fourlas, for holding a debate on missing persons in Cyprus with the participation of relatives of missing persons from both communities.
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 due to Turkish intransigence. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
The UN Secretary-General announced that an informal meeting on Cyprus in a broader format will be held at the end of July, following a similar meeting in Geneva, on March 17-18. The two sides agreed to proceed with a number of initiatives, involving the opening of crossing points, the creation of a Technical Committee on Youth and other initiatives in the buffer zone and throughout the island.
The UN Secretary-General Ant³nio Guterres announced in early May the appointment of Mara Angela Holgun Cu©llar of Colombia as his Personal Envoy on Cyprus, who is tasked to reengage with the parties in order to work on next steps on the Cyprus issue and advise him. Holgun completed a previous assignment as Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General on Cyprus from January to July 2024.
The European Commission designated Johannes Hahn, a former European Commissioner, as Special Envoy for Cyprus to contribute to the settlement process, in close cooperation with Holgun. Since the Turkish invasion in 1974, the fate of hundreds of people remains unknown.
A Committee on Missing Persons has been established, upon agreement between the leaders of the two communities, with the scope of exhuming, identifying, and returning to their relatives the remains of 492 Turkish Cypriots and 1,510 Greek Cypriots, who went missing during the inter-communal fighting of 1963-1964 and in 1974. According to statistical data published on the CMP website by February 28, 2025, out of 2002 missing persons 1,704 were exhumed and 1,052 were identified. Out of 1,510 Greek Cypriot missing persons, 756 were identified and 754 are still missing. Out of 492 Turkish Cypriot missing persons, 296 were identified and 196 are still missing.