The informal extended Geneva meeting on the Cyprus problem, the EU’s role in the process and EU – Turkey relations were discussed on Wednesday by the Cyprus President, Nikos Christodoulides and the President of the European Council, António Costa.

According to a post by President Christodoulides on platform X “ (he had) a very good exchange with the President of the European Council, António Costa, on the informal extended Geneva meeting on the Cyprus problem, the EU’s role in the process and EU – Turkey relations”.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results due to Turkish intransigence. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.

UN Secretary General announced that an informal meeting on Cyprus in a broader format will be held at the end of July, following a similar meeting in Geneva, on March 17-18. Antonio Guterres also announced that he will appoint a new personal envoy on Cyprus to prepare the next steps, while the two sides agreed to proceed with a number of initiatives, involving the opening of crossing points, the creation of a Technical Committee on Youth and other initiatives in the buffer zone and throughout the island.