By Christos Georgiou
It took just a few words for the Antonio Guterres personal envoy to describe where things stand today. Maria Anhela Olgin’s statement might not have the characteristics of pessimism but does nevertheless focus on the fact that there is essentially no other room to manoeuvre and things really need to get somewhere right now. “The UN, myself and the Secretary General, are doing the best we can, but leaders need to make the decisions,” she stressed.
As it stands from this assessment, the ball is very firmly on the leaders’ feet to push forward a set UN Course as it was established by the recent UNSG initiatives who convened two informal five-party conferences (New York and Geneva), as well as his decision to further strengthen efforts with an upgraded role and appointment for Ms.Olgin.
The UN official did not mince her words. It now all depends on the leaders, she made clear following yesterday’s meeting with President Christodoulides. The framework, at least when it comes to the Confidence Building Measures agreement, is in force, but has failed to yield any results, despite the international organisation’s best efforts. Olgin’s goal at this point in time is “to brief the UNSG on how things stand on the island, what the climate is, that’s why I am here.”
Do what’s necessary
The message is that the leaders need to move forward and do what’s necessary to secure that the process continues. In essence, Olgin believes that the y should have already agreed on what are called ‘soft measures’.
It has to be noted that the Greek-Cypriot side believes a degree of progress has been achieved on issues that were put forward at the informal conferences, “but obviously not the kind of progress we would have liked”, spokesman Letympiotis said.
The Nicosia position on the current state of affairs is that with some honest political will there could have been progress on crossing points, an issue extensively discussed at conferences. It firmly believes its own stance has been constructive and will continue to be so, in order “to contribute towards the UNSG’s efforts and this sort of will and philosophy brings us to the joint meeting in New York,” he added.
Obviously, as it stands, no one in the UN Secretariat believes in a possibility of an agreement even on low velocity measures, as the election race is hotting up in the Turkish-Cypriot community. The hope is to keep the UN’s interest momentum, so efforts can be rejuvenated following the occupation territories electoral process.