UPDATE: UN SG Ban Ki-moon sees a Cyprus settlement closer than ever before

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon believes that while there is no official timeline for the Cyprus negotiations, there is a real unique window of opportunity for the process to finally succeed this year 2016.

In his Good Offices Mission report, the Secretary General also says that he believes firmly that the months ahead remain crucial, if the sides are to achieve the key and tough compromises necessary to reach a comprehensive settlement, as soon as possible.

Ban underlines that there is no room for complacency, as substantial work remains ahead. However, he is convinced that the settlement is today closer than ever and he calls on the leaders “to maintain the momentum as the talks are well into the substantive phase in which core issues across chapters are being considered.”

The UN SG encourages the leaders to continue to negotiate these issues with good faith, political will, leadership and mutual trust.

“I believe that an agreement is within reach and I trust that the leaders and all Cypriots will do their utmost at this crucial time to grasp the current opportunity and to finally translate the vision of a united Cyprus into a reality.”

Secretary Ban is particularly heartened by the fact that the sides have engaged in the negotiations with a problem-solving approach. He notes that the leaders have shown that, while each negotiates in the interests of his own community, they have equally been able to take into consideration the concerns of the other community, in order to reach a settlement that meets the best interests of all citizens of a future, united Cyprus.

In particular, the Secretary General commends both leaders for their ongoing efforts to refrain from engaging in a blame game and he encourages them to continue to use key opportunities to communicate jointly to the public in a constructive and coordinated manner, as they have already done on several occasions.

He reiterates the full engagement of the United Nations in supporting the efforts of the two sides to find a comprehensive settlement and he underlines the cooperation between UNFICYP and the Office of the Good Offices Mission.

“Through such intensive and steady engagement, the sides have made considerable progress on many topics related to the chapter of governance and power-sharing, including the federal legislature, federal judiciary, federal competences, internal aspects of security, to name a few, as well as issues related to citizenship." 

For the full report, CLICK HERE