‘No time to lose’ on Cyprus problem talks says Christodoulides (updated)

There is ‘no time to lose’ in the effort to resume Cyprus problem negotiations, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Tuesday as he continued his contacts in Greece.

Speaking after meeting opposition Syriza Leader Alexis Tsipras in Athens, the new president repeated he is seeking engagement from the EU to resolve the Cyprus problem since the union has all the incentives to ensure a solution beneficial for all parties concerned.

The EU’s involvement, not only at the Crans Montana conference but also at the level of technocrats, Christodoulides said, had been a catalyst for reaching convergences that had not been achieved in the past.

“We have no time to lose in the effort to break the deadlock and resume the talks,” he stressed, reiterating that reunification is a “priority”.

Christodoulides said he aims for all the preparatory work to be done by the time the elections in Turkey are over, especially regarding EU member states and the UN “because we always talk about within the UN framework, we cannot discuss anything that goes beyond the UN framework – to create the conditions for the resumption of the talks.

“The status quo cannot be the solution to the Cyprus problem,” Christodoulides added. “Reunification is our priority and we will work towards it, in coordination with the Greek government, but also with the Greek political parties.”

Tsipras welcomed Christodoulides comments about resuming negotiations from where they left off in Crans Montana, adding that the Syriza government had worked with the then government of Cyprus to have the EU part of this conference with positive results.

He also referred to the tragic accident in Tempe on February 28, thanking Cyprus for its support and stressing the obligation of everyone to do their utmost to find out the truth about the causes of the crash.

Christodoulides added that the political leadership of each country should, through its actions, not allow such tragic events to happen again.

In comments later in the day, government spokesman Constantinos Letymbiotis highlighted the importance of maintaining the excellent Cyprus-Greece relations.

“What is important at the moment and what we must keep is the excellent relations between Cyprus and Greece over time”.

He was responding criticism from opposition Akel regarding the establishment of a supreme intergovernmental cooperation council announced on Monday.

“The president had already stated that a meeting of the National Council was scheduled to take place immediately after the European Council, to inform the political leaders about what would take place in Brussels. It is at least regrettable that such important institutional decisions of this kind do not receive support.”

Cyprus has established a similar Council with Egypt, Greece has one with several Balkan countries and even with Turkey, Letymbiotis said.

The mechanism will allow for the cabinets of the two governments to meet and brief each other on issues of common interest and concern, with both leaders attending, too.