UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will travel to Cyprus this Sunday "to personally show his support for the ongoing efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem", the UN officially announced today.
Mr. Ban will visit Cyprus from 31 January through 2 February, his spokesperson announced in a statement, following discussions between the Secretary-General and his Special Adviser for Cyprus, Alexander Downer.
While in Cyprus, the UN Chief will meet with the leaders of the two communities, Demetris Christofias and Mehmet Ali Talat, as well as with his Special Adviser Alexander Dower focusing on the state of progress in the talks, and on how best the United Nations can continue to assist their efforts.
The spokesman stressed that the UN is committed to helping the two communities reach a solution.
“The international community has tremendous goodwill for Cyprus and a strong interest in seeing the Cypriots arrive at a solution” , he added.
The end of the intensive talks on Cyprus was yesterday moved to Friday, giving the two leaders more time to continue discussions, UN Special Adviser Alexander Downer announced last night.
The UN diplomat told reporters that the two leaders met throughout the day discussing governance and power sharing. “Given the way the discussions have evolved during the course of the day, the two leaders have decided that they will meet again on Friday for further discussions,” he said. He noted that officials from both sides would convene before then and that Friday would be the culmination of the talks.
The Cyprus Mail reports that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday had to hold back announcing his trip to Cyprus, following the realisation that the talks had yet to be concluded.
The UN chief was due to make the announcement last night at a press conference in New York, but instead told reporters he would visit the island at the appropriate time to help push forward the peace process. He said he had spoken to Downer and was waiting to hear his further assessment of the talks before deciding when to visit.
According to reports, he will arrive on Sunday, assuming the intensive talks end on Friday. On Monday morning he will meet with the two leaders first separately and then jointly in the afternoon, after which an announcement will likely be made, possibly on the progress, or not, of the talks. In the evening, he will meet with representatives of civil society organisations and will leave the island the next day.
Asked whether any progress was made over the six days of intensive negotiations, Downer suggested that the result was still being cooked in the oven, saying: “Well, the proof of that pudding will be, as they say, in the eating.
“By that, I mean there will be statements made at the end of this process, which has been extended until Friday.”
The Australian diplomat avoided questions on whether European issues and the economy had been discussed during the intensive phase, as was originally planned, noting that all would be revealed on Friday.
Downer rejected the notion that there was a “hold-up” or “snag” in the talks, highlighting that the two leaders were simply “putting a little more time” in at the end of this intensive period.
“Rather than staying up all night, which sometimes happens in negotiations, I think this is a civilised and constructive way of handling it,” he said. He also deflected questions on a possible third round of intensive talks, saying “more will be revealed as time goes by, that is always the case”.
The government earlier yesterday said it welcomed a possible Ban visit and expects him to encourage the two sides to push the process forward. But government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou highlighted that: “There is no ‘Ban plan’ or interim agreement on the cards”.
One government source said the concern was that not enough progress had been made to warrant his visit, raising fears he would try to push for some kind of convergence between the two sides while here.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment