The Cyprus problem is “on life support”, Alma leader Odysseas Michaelides said on Monday, as he exited the day’s National Council meeting.

“We did not pull the plug, but it did not come out of intensive care either,” he said, before acknowledging that “certainly, the United Nations secretary-general’s mention … of the convergences is a positive element”.

This, he said, “indicates both his own knowledge of the Cyprus problem and his commitment that his powers stem from the resolutions of the United Nations”.

He then said he is “concerned” that there is now “a peak in expectations”, but that “in practice, if the effort does not bear fruit, the picture which will be given after the secretary-general will be even more pessimistic”.

“The overall picture will be given that there is essentially no longer any prospect of the problem being managed,” he said.

He later said that since March last year, “we have essentially accepted that communiques are issued without any reference to the agreed framework for a solution”.

“The bottom line is that we should focus on putting pressure on Turkey, also using the tool of relations between Europe and Turkey, so that it returns to the negotiating table on the basis of the agreed framework,” he said.

Regarding the matter of crossing points, he said that while he believes President Nikos Christodoulides to be “correct” in “linking the opening of the Mia Milia crossing point to the Athienou crossing point”, which, he said, is “very important to the residents there”, there could be “room for a different approach”.

“The president could propose that if there is a resumption of negotiations on the basis of the agreed framework, then we could accept the opening of Mia Milia alone, but at the same time as the resumption of negotiations,” he said.

At last week’s tripartite meeting between UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Christodoulides, and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman, the Greek Cypriot side proposed removing Louroujina, northwest of Larnaca, from the package of four crossing points which had been agreed upon at last year’s enlarged meeting in New York.

Instead, the suggestion was that crossing points near Athienou, and in the eastern Nicosia suburbs of Mia Milia and Aglandjia would be opened. However, the Turkish Cypriot side flatly refused to entertain any discussions which did not include all four agreed upon locations.