AKEL C.C. Press Office, 27 July 2018, Nicosia

The UN Security Council resolution for the renewal of the mandate of UNFICYP (United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus) is to a great extent identical to the previous one. The interconnection of the presence of the peacekeeping force with the procedure of solving the Cyprus problem has been avoided, but the danger remains bearing in mind the persistent US-led effort towards this end

The resolution in essence adopts the position of the UN Secretary-Generalfor the safeguardingof the convergences and calls for the appointment of the UN Secretary-General’s special envoy on Cyprus Mrs. Lute to be made use towardsachieving further convergence on the main outstanding issues, always on the agreed basis for a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation with political equality.

The UN Security Council calls on the Secretary-General to submit a report by 15th October, apparently in order to decide the next steps in the light of the report Mrs. Lute will submit to himon the results of her contacts with all the involved parties. If the UN Secretary-General in his report in October concludes that the suitable preconditions do not exist for a resumption of the negotiation procedure, very negative developments will follow. Among other things, we will now be faced with the immediate danger of UNFICYP's mandate not being renewed in January or, at best, its mandatedowngraded and its numerical strength drastically reduced.

We have not as yet been informed exactly what President Anastasiades said to Mrs. Lute. We want to believe that he didn’t confine himself to explaining his narrative about what happened at Crans Montana, given that this is the last thing the UN Secretary-Generalwants to hear. What Mr. Guterres does want to hear is a clear commitment fromthe Greek Cypriot side that it is ready to move forward in the way he himself proposes. That is to say, with the safeguarding of the convergences, the acceptance of his framework and the cross-negotiation of the six key issues on two tables with the aim of achieving a strategic understanding, something that will significantly facilitate the solution of the remaining pending issues. If this isn’t done and the President insists on putting forth terms and preconditions, the stalemate will be formalizedin his report in October. If this is accompanied by responsibilities being apportionedon the Greek Cypriot side, the consequences will be tragic,given that the final partition will be looming.