María Ángela Holguín is not abandoning efforts to restart negotiations on the Cyprus issue. Despite the difficulties and lack of substantive progress, the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy will return to Cyprus in October, continuing to insist on the need to create the right conditions for a new process.
Her persistence offers courage and hope to those who believe that continued stalemate is not an option.
Her announcement from New York contains two substantive elements.
First, the process of recording the convergences reached in previous negotiations has been completed and these will be made available to the sides once negotiations begin.
Second, there is a need to implement the agreed confidence-building measures.
These are the facts on which the two leaders are now being called to position themselves and take initiatives.
A missed opportunity in New York
The failure to hold a trilateral meeting in New York is indicative of the difficulties that remain.
President Nikos Christodoulides proposed such a meeting, but Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman did not consider it appropriate to hold one at this stage.
Erhürman could, however, have said “yes”.
Even without expectations of immediate progress, such a meeting could have kept dialogue alive and created space for further understanding.
Christodoulides can do more on confidence-building measures
On the other hand, Christodoulides has room to demonstrate greater determination when it comes to confidence-building measures.
Their implementation does not need to, and should not, be approached through a logic of “give and take”, particularly when it comes to opening new crossing points.
Confidence-building measures can have a tangible and positive impact on people’s everyday lives.
They can make a difference to crossings and movement between the two sides, environmental cooperation and efforts to address shared problems.
These are issues that affect Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots equally, as citizens of the Republic of Cyprus.
Responsibility towards all citizens
The President of the Republic of Cyprus has an institutional responsibility towards all of its citizens, including Turkish Cypriots.
That responsibility makes the way he acts and the initiatives he undertakes to improve everyday life for both communities particularly important.
Otherwise, he risks downgrading the Republic of Cyprus from a state into a community.
Confidence-building measures cannot replace the negotiating process.
But they can provide practical evidence that the two sides are capable of working together within a single federal state.
