The UN Secretary-General’s visit to Cyprus is meant to encourage the people and leaders to prepare for negotiations, the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, María Ángela Holguín, said in statements on Monday.
Speaking after a meeting at the Presidential Palace with President Nikos Christodoulides, Holguín said that in her meeting with the President, “we’re preparing for the visit of the SG,” who arrives tonight.
“The SG’s mission is to facilitate, to encourage the people and the leaders to move forward towards negotiations,” she said.
That, she said, is the reason he’s coming, adding that the Secretary-General has been visiting Cyprus and “for almost ten years, promoting and supporting efforts on the Cyprus problem. He’s coming with this purpose and I hope that we’ll be able to make some progress,” Holguín said.
She also said she had just returned from a long trip to Brussels and Ankara, where she had “good meetings and we discussed all the issues that need to move forward for there to be progress.”
She also expressed her pleasure “that we’re welcoming the Secretary-General this afternoon.”
Holguín is meeting Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman at 11am.
(information from CNA)
