By Bosphorus News Geopolitics Desk
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Republic of Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides met at the Maximos Mansion in Athens on July 25 to coordinate their positions ahead of UN Secretary-General António Guterres' July 27 to 29 visit to Cyprus.
The two leaders backed a substantive resumption of negotiations within the United Nations framework, with Christodoulides saying the aim was to continue from where the process ended in the summer of 2017.
Mitsotakis said the approaching end of Guterres' term added urgency to the diplomatic activity surrounding Cyprus.
"If real progress is to be made, now is the time to explore whether it can become a reality," Mitsotakis said during the opening of the meeting.
The Greek prime minister said Athens fully supported Christodoulides' efforts to restart talks under the framework established by UN Security Council decisions, describing this as a position from which Greece and the Republic of Cyprus would not depart.
Christodoulides said Guterres would arrive on the island on Monday evening and expressed hope that the visit would produce positive results and create the conditions needed to resume negotiations.
He also said he had received an initial briefing on UN Personal Envoy María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar's meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan a day earlier.
The meeting followed Holguín's recent diplomatic contacts in Brussels and Ankara as preparations intensified for Guterres' visit.
Christodoulides described the Cyprus issue as a European problem and cited the European Commission's appointment of Executive Vice-President Raffaele Fitto as its Special Representative for Cyprus as evidence of Brussels' increased involvement.
Fitto has been tasked with contributing to the settlement process within the UN framework, working closely with Holguín and engaging the relevant parties to help prepare the ground for renewed negotiations.
Christodoulides said any renewed process should also comply with the principles, values and law of the European Union.
He repeated the Republic of Cyprus government's position that the objective should extend beyond restarting talks to securing the reunification of the island. His references to a Turkish "invasion" and continuing "occupation" reflected the terminology used by his government.
Türkiye and the Turkish Cypriot side reject those descriptions and maintain that any new process must recognise the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot people.
Mitsotakis also placed the meeting within a worsening regional security environment. He warned that the "drums of war" were again growing louder and that a new escalation could extend to the Red Sea.
Christodoulides said further escalation would affect the wider region and Europe, adding another security dimension to the coordination between Athens and the Republic of Cyprus before the UN chief's arrival.
Sources: Office of the Greek Prime Minister, European Commission, Bosphorus News reporting and review.