Athens: Greek Foreign Affairs Minister George Gerapetritis is scheduled to meet with the UN Secretary General’s Personal Envoy on Cyprus, Maria Angela Holguin, on Thursday morning.
According to Cyprus News Agency, Holguin’s diplomatic efforts have been in full swing as she recently held talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and is set to engage with other key stakeholders, including the head of British diplomacy, the European Union, and both sides in Cyprus. These discussions come ahead of an anticipated informal meeting in a broader format expected to occur in late July.
The island of Cyprus remains divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion, which resulted in the occupation of its northern third. Despite numerous attempts at UN-led peace talks, progress has been stalled, largely due to what has been described as Turkish intransigence. The most recent negotiations, held in July 2017 at Crans-Montana, Switzerland, ended without resolution.
The UN Secretary-General António Guterres has announced that
another informal meeting on Cyprus will take place at the end of July. This follows a similar meeting that was held in Geneva on March 17-18, where both sides agreed to pursue initiatives like opening crossing points, establishing a Technical Committee on Youth, and other activities aimed at fostering cooperation across the buffer zone and the island.
Maria Angela Holguin was appointed by Guterres in early May as his Personal Envoy on Cyprus, with the mission to reengage the parties involved and provide guidance on the next steps regarding the Cyprus issue. Holguin previously served in this role from January to July 2024. In a related development, the European Commission has named Johannes Hahn as Special Envoy for Cyprus to aid in the settlement process, working closely with Holguin.