UN chief, EU official to attend Geneva summit

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will attend next week’s informal Cyprus meeting in Geneva, his first such event since the pandemic began a year ago.

On 27 April, the Secretary-General will have bilateral meetings with the parties involved and there will be an opening reception.

The second day begins with a meeting of the plenary in the morning.

In the afternoon, Guterres will have several bilateral meetings with the guarantor powers (Greece, Turkey, Britain) and the two Cyprus leaders, to be followed by a dinner in the evening.

On the third day, more bilateral meetings will take place and possibly a tripartite meeting between the UN SecretaryGeneral and the Cypriot leaders, as well as a concluding plenary session.

Guterres said he is prepared to stay longer if the meeting proves to be constructive.

Apart from the two leaders and the Foreign Ministers of the guarantor powers, an EU representative will be also in Geneva – without taking part in the conference – and will hold bilateral meetings.

Angelina Eichhorst, Managing Director for Western Europe, Western Balkans, Turkey, and UK at the European External Action Service will represent the EU.

There is no provision for the presence of the EU representative in any of the meeting’s, including the reception and the dinner.

Guterres acknowledges that all are attending to say the things they want to say, but equally to listen.

UN envoy Jane Holl Lute suggested the meeting to the Secretary-General, deeming it worth knowing whether there is a common vision or not.

To the extent a common vision is deemed to exist, the UN will try to see whether the parties can agree on a procedure to reach this vision.

Guterres has called on participants to speak openly and present ideas at the table, to be creative, decisive, flexible and to see whether elements of a common vision exist.

There will be no negotiation in Geneva, but an informal meeting, to see whether there is common ground to resume stalled peace talks.

“Since there will be no negotiation, there will be no effort on the part of the Secretary-General to bridge differences,” sources said.

“If he is able to offer ideas which might serve this purpose, he will do so, but he will not try to bridge differences. This is up to the parties to do.”

The next move after Geneva will be planned depending on results of the informal 5+1 meeting, there could even be a joint communique

The UN Secretary-General invited all parties involved to attend an informal five-plus-one meeting on the Cyprus issue in Geneva, Switzerland, from 27-29 April.

Eichhorst will not be part of the informal conference and will not attend any meeting procedures, including the opening reception and the dinner during the conference’s second day. She will, however, have bilateral meetings with the parties involved.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and EU High Representative Josep Borrell spoke on the phone, last Sunday, concerning the issue of EU representation in Geneva.