With her contract as the UN Secretary-General’s personal envoy nearing its end and its renewal uncertain, Maria Angela Holguin has begun looking for a way out of the Cyprus problem without damage to her standing.
Her moves before arriving on the island late last week showed she was trying to step back without taking on any of the blame. That is why she tried to convey that the continuing deadlock is down to the two leaders.
Her handling of her meetings on the island appears to point the same way. Her decision to meet delegations from the occupied municipalities of Famagusta and Morphou came not on her own initiative but in reaction to recent statements.
Famagusta mayor Simos Ioannou had said they tried for a year to meet Holguin without a response. Then, a year on and after her latest visit, she suddenly agreed to see them at the end of this week. This comes even as she publicises on every trip to the island that she will meet civil society and organised groups.
President Nikos Christodoulides said he had encouraged her at their last meeting to respond positively to the occupied municipalities’ request.
This week’s meetings
Holguin meets Christodoulides at the Presidential Palace at 3.15pm on Tuesday. The meeting comes a day after her talks with Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman, which she said left her optimistic about a three-way meeting with both leaders next Monday (9 November). Christodoulides said Erhurman would be away from Wednesday to Friday.
Holguin met Erhurman in the occupied north for nearly an hour and a half on Monday and described the talks as preparation for the trilateral. She said they had discussed many issues and that it had been a good meeting. She was optimistic, she said, and hoped she was not the only one on the island, but she was continuing to work. Erhurman made no statement afterwards.
The Presidential Palace is waiting to see whether anything positive came out of her talks with Erhurman. Holguin last met Christodoulides on Friday.
Christodoulides said on Monday he was ready to meet Holguin and Erhurman together if that was considered necessary. He said he had told the envoy he would rearrange his schedule for a joint meeting, or meet her on her own. The Greek Cypriot side was awaiting answers both to its specific proposals and to the issues discussed with Holguin, he said, and he hoped something would emerge that would lead to a joint meeting.
Asked whether the conditions existed for an enlarged meeting before the current UN Secretary-General’s term ends, Christodoulides called it an “absolutely feasible goal” that required political will. He said the Greek Cypriot side was continually submitting proposals and suggestions towards that goal. These, he said, showed its political will and readiness for an enlarged meeting at which a resumption of talks would be announced.
