EU not participating in Cyprus conference but will hold bilateral meetings

The EU has not received an invitation to participate in the informal five-plus-one summit on Cyprus in Geneva next week but an official will be there to monitor developments, it emerged on Thursday.

European Commission spokesperson Peter Stano told the Cyprus News Agency during a press briefing in Brussels that the EU was not invited by the UN to take part in the summit.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and EU High Representative Josep Borrell spoke on the phone last Sunday, concerning the issue of EU representation in Geneva.

“We stressed several times, and I think the last time when it was very clearly formulated was when High Representative Borrell was in Nicosia last month, that the European Union welcomes the forthcoming talks on the Cyprus problem under the auspices of the UN,” Stano said. He added that the EU remains fully committed to a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.

“Now, we look forward to the resumption of negotiations, under the auspices of the UN, and the European Union remains ready to play an active role in supporting the negotiations, including by appointing a representative to the UN good offices missions,” he added. “This position is long-standing, and we are ready to do whatever we can.”

“When it comes to the technical issue of the invitation at this stage so far, I cannot confirm that we have received an invitation,” Stano said.

It emerged however, that Angelina Eichhorst, Managing Director for Western Europe, Western Balkans, Turkey, and United Kingdom at the European External Action Service will be present on behalf of the EU in Geneva, during the informal summit next week.

According to CNA, Eichhorst will not be part of the informal conference and will not attend any meeting procedures. She will, however, have bilateral meetings with the parties involved.

The five-party summit will take place between Tuesday and Thursday in Guterres’ presence.

Though the EU and the Greek Cypriot side had expressed the wish for Brussels’ participation as an observer, Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot side were against this, accusing the bloc of lack of impartiality in favour of the Greek Cypriot side.