President Nikos Christodoulides will meet the UN secretary-general’s personal envoy Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar on January 30, Government Spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said on Tuesday.

Her appointment constitutes a “significant development” after a protracted period of status quo, he added.

The spokesman reiterated the government’s commitment to restarting negotiations and expressed hopes that the “same political will” would be shown by the Turkish Cypriot side for a final solution to the Cyprus problem in line with UN resolutions.

Cuellar has already met the Permanent Representative of Cyprus at the UN in New York, where she was briefed extensively, and has had a telephone conversation with High Representative of the EU Josep Borrell, Letymbiotis said.

During her stay in Cyprus, Cuellar is planning meetings with several community groups.

“We welcome the fact that her visit will not be a single-day visit something which had been requested from the SG,” Letymbiotis added, so that the visits would be long and frequent enough to be of “added value”.

During her first tour in her role, Cuellar will also visit Cyprus’ guarantor powers, as well as Brussels, where she will have another series of contacts.