The leaders in Cyprus are looking forward to receiving the UN chief’s personal envoy Maria Ángela Holguín in the coming weeks, deputy spokesman for the secretary-general, Farhan Haq, said on Monday.

Haq said that, following the conclusion of the informal meeting on the Cyprus issue in a broader format held in Geneva on March17 and 18, the secretary-general asked Holguín “to re-engage with the parties in order to work on the next steps on the Cyprus issue and to advise them”.

Speaking during a news briefing at UN headquarters in New York, Haq said Holguín completed a previous assignment as personal envoy from January to July 2024.

Holguín, he added, “brings extensive diplomatic experience at the highest level, including her tenure as minister of foreign affairs of Colombia.”

Haq referred to Monday’s meeting between President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, who welcomed Holguín’s reappointment and “look forward to receiving her in Cyprus in the coming weeks”.