The EU can play a decisive role in breaking the deadlock and finding a solution of the Cyprus problem, the President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulides said on Thursday on the sidelines of his visit to the Pefkios Georgiades Primary School in Nicosia.
Speaking to the Press, President Christodoulides said that the aim is to break the deadlock on the Cyprus problem through contacts, stressing that he chooses not to engage in a blame game with Ankara.
Asked if he has drawn up a plan with suggestions on the role of the UN and how to break the deadlock, he said he welcomes and sees as a positive sign the interest from international players, the UN and the EU, adding that he recently had a very good discussion with European Council President Charles Michel, with whom he will have a meeting on March 22.
He said that his meeting today with the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Cyprus Colin Stewart was preparatory to his meeting with Rosemary DiCarlo.
Our approach and our goal are the involvement of the EU, because we believe that the EU in the current international context, as it has been shaped in particular by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has the motivation to lead to a mutually acceptable and mutually beneficial state of affairs and that is where we will invest, he noted, while clarifying that all of the above is always within the UN framework.
He added that it is important that DiCarlo will visit Cyprus and that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will be in Brussels and will speak to all the Heads of State and Government of the EU Member States on the cooperation between the EU and the UN, with the Cyprus problem being one of the issues that cooperation is needed.
We cannot waste time as regards efforts to break the deadlock, things are not easy. I know very well the positions of the Turkish side, I listen and read the statements every day. I consciously choose not to get involved in a blame game, he said.
I choose, the President added, to work in particular through these contacts with a clear objective, to see how we can break the deadlock. It is not easy, but we will do everything possible and we believe that the EU can decisively help in breaking the deadlock and in resolving the Cyprus problem, which is the main issue, he said.
Asked whether he will meet with the UN Secretary General in Brussels and commenting on a remark that the Turkish Cypriot leader has asked to meet with the UN Secretary General, President Christodoulides said that I have seen Mr Tatar’s intention, adding that there is no fixed appointment at the moment, I will certainly see him on the sidelines of the European Council, but there is no fixed appointment.
Source Cyprus News Agency