UN Secretary-General's Personal Envoy for Cyprus María Ángela Holguín is expected to return to the island during the final week of July, following a series of meetings abroad, according to Greek Cypriot negotiator Menelaos Menelaou.
Speaking to Politis radio, Menelaou said Holguín will first hold contacts in Brussels before returning to Cyprus as part of ongoing efforts to revive the Cyprus settlement process.
Regarding the recently appointed EU special envoy for Cyprus, Raffaele Fitto, Menelaou said no date has yet been set for his visit to the island.
‘A matter of political will’
Asked whether there is enough time to convene an expanded conference before the summer recess, Menelaou said it remains feasible. "There is still time, and it is a matter of political will. The Greek Cypriot side is ready," he said.
He added, however, that obstacles remain and argued that these originate from the Turkish side.
When asked whether this also applied to the Turkish Cypriot side, Menelaou suggested there had been a shift in Turkish Cypriot positions following the change in the community's leadership.
Two-state position remains obstacle
Menelaou said a key issue that still needs to be overcome is Turkey's continued support for a two-state solution.
Asked whether developments in EU-Turkey relations and the Cyprus issue would proceed in parallel, he replied that efforts on both fronts are advancing simultaneously.
He reiterated the Greek Cypriot position that negotiations should resume from the point at which they last broke off, rather than begin from scratch. "Our position is that the talks should continue from where they stopped. We cannot move to an approach that starts from zero," he said.
Phased implementation possible in some areas
Asked whether the Greek Cypriot side could accept a settlement implemented in stages, Menelaou said this could be feasible in certain aspects of an agreement, such as territorial adjustments.
However, he stressed that a phased approach could not apply to the solution as a whole.
