Senior UN official to visit island in March

A senior United Nations official will visit Cyprus next month for discussions with the two leaders, reports said on Thursday.

The purpose of the discussions will be to explore ways of jumpstarting Cyprus peace talks, stalled since 2017.

Citing sources, the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) said the UN official in question would be either Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, or Miroslav Jenca, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and Americas.

Jenca had come to Cyprus on three occasions last year – in April, July and November – holding contacts with both sides.

A “well-informed source” told CNA that the visiting UN official has been tasked with ensuring UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ ongoing engagement with the Cyprus issue, in a bid to revive reunification talks.

The same source said the visit would not affect a mooted meeting between Nikos Christodoulides and Guterres to take place in late March in Brussels, on the sidelines of the European Council summit.