The UN Secretary-General’s personal envoy in Cyprus María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar has spent Thursday meeting officials at the Foreign Office in London, at the start of her second round of talks on whether negotiations can resume towards settling the long-standing division of the island.
She was initially seen by Lord Tariq Ahmad, the Foreign Minister in charge of UN matters.
Posting a picture with Ms Holguín on X, Lord Ahmad commented that ‘the UK stands by the UN-led process towards a just and lasting Settlement which will benefit all Cypriots.’
He added he was ‘delighted’ to see the UN envoy ‘to discuss her search for common ground between the parties.’
Holguín also met with the Minister for Europe Leo Docherty, as well as senior Foreign Office officials.
She will hold meetings in London on Friday as well, although details of her schedule have not been confirmed by the UN.
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. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres appointed María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar of Colombia as his personal envoy for Cyprus, to assume a Good Offices role on his behalf and search for common ground on the way forward in the Cyprus issue.
Source: Cyprus News Agency