UNSG’s Special Representative and head of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), Colin Stewart is meeting on Monday morning with the Greek Cypriot leader , Nikos Christodoulides, ahead of his departure from the island, as he is shortly retiring.
Speaking to UN News in view of his retirement, Stewart said that “we are at a bit of a challenging moment for Cyprus because of upcoming elections in the north and other dynamics,” describing the talks in the framework of the informal meeting in a broader format on Cyprus that took place in New York in July as “an important step.”
“The intent was to keep the ball rolling and keep the momentum going, and I think that succeeded,” he added in the interview with the UN News.
Referring to the Secretary-General’s good offices to support a comprehensive settlement in Cyprus, he noted that the greatest obstacle lies not in public sentiment but in political will.
“The people get along fine,” he added. “Millions cross from one side to the other every year without incident. But among political leaders, distrust runs so deep that even the idea of compromise is viewed negatively,” he said.
This distrust, he said, is rooted in decades of hardline narratives that portray the other side as an enemy rather than a partner. Breaking those narratives is essential, Stewart stressed.
( Source: CNA)
