Cyprus talks will be restarting on April 11, the UN announced on Tuesday night, following the intervention of the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Radio Proto reported on Wednesday.
In Brussels, Guterres’ meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci – who walked out of negotiations in mid-February – proved to be decisive as the two discussed the latest developments in the Cyprus problem, and the prospects of settling the problem.
Following Akinci’s meeting with Guterres, the Turkish Cypriot leader will meet with EU Commission President Jean Claude Juncker on Wednesday.
According to sources the Secretary General had to exercise pressure on Akinci, telling him that he needs to return to the negotiating table, in order to win the understanding of the international community and for the Turkish Cypriot side to not be held responsible for not restarting the negotiating process.
The UN Secretary General’s Special Adviser Espen Barth Eide announced the restart of the Cyprus talks on his Twitter account on Tuesday.
Radio Proto reported that ahead of the decision to restart talks, President Nicos Anastasiades spoke with the heads of the DISY and AKEL parties, Averof Neophytou and Andros Kyprianou, respectively, to ensure that on Friday’s session of parliament their parties would support an amended bill on a previous bill passed regarding school holidays and the ‘enosis’ referendum of 1950.
The parliament’s bill
The President then spoke with the UN envoy to inform him that the issue with the parliament’s bill will be closed on Friday.
On his part, Eide then informed Akinci and Ankara about the reassurances he received from the president.
After meeting with the UN Secretary General, Akinci said that the developments over the next few days will judged whether or not there will be a restart of talks on April 11, highlighting the importance of the parliament’s decision on Friday, which he continues to hold as a precondition to restart talks.
President Anastasiades has expressed his satisfaction for the restart of the negotiations.
He also said that he hopes both sides can involve themselves with a productive dialogue, with proposals, which will not distance themselves from the EU acquis, and will be centred on the best interests of both communities.
The President added that through consultations with Eide after the dinner on Sunday the issue was clear up and there is no issue of preconditions.
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