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12° Nicosia,
21 March, 2026
 
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Victory or vanity? Reflections on New York and the Cyprus talks

A candid take on cautious optimism, political will, and the realities behind the resumption of negotiations.

Onasagoras

Onasagoras

We Have Triumphed! That’s how I feel after New York. Some ingrates will sneer, “a mountain labored and gave birth to a mouse.” But I, for one, agree with the President, who, very carefully choosing his words, never speaks of a solution, but always of some vague “progress” toward the great goal which is, get this, not the solution, but the resumption of talks, or, as our co-inhabitants call them, kounousma.

So, an official resumption of kounousma means trips and more trips, dinners, luncheons, even brunches. It means the UN is paying attention to us again, and we get to feel important, taking photos while staring pensively, or pretending to, at the sky and New York’s skyscrapers.

There have been better outcomes. -Nikos Christodoulides.

“There could have been even better outcomes,” said the President, “but there wasn’t the necessary political will.” I assume he meant Tatar’s objections to the bizonal bicommunal federation. Surely he didn’t mean the similar objections from DIKO, EDEK, and especially ELAM, since, as we all know, we’re absolutely bursting with political will. It’s running out of our armpits, as my late grandfather used to say.

I think we’re doing just fine. After all, as recent polls show, the Cyprus Problem doesn’t even sell anymore, not even among Greek Cypriots, who rank it low on their list of concerns, giving higher priority to immigration, corruption, and of course, the high cost of living. As long as one of the hundreds of corrupt officials gets convicted every few years and Anna Vissi throws a big summer concert, we’re all everybody happy. In case you were… wondering, as the Absolute Diva would say.

Given all this, I find the UN Secretary-General’s statement, that progress has been made on four points, which are the following three, and can be summed up in these two, quite satisfying: the restoration of cemeteries. I highlight restoration of cemeteries because, frankly, it sounds the most impressive. What exactly will that entail? Should we perhaps expect the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come, amen?

Meanwhile, Cypriots are very eager to invest in battery storage for the solar energy they produce, provided, of course, there’s substantial state subsidy. A reasonable request, especially when they hear of billion-euro projects with uncertain outcomes, and they’re just asking for a few crumbs so they can milk the sun productively. So bare your chest, my dear sun, great bovine of boundless energy, and be patient until bureaucracy lets us fully tap into you.

Let me remind you what clean energy expert Ramez Naam said at the recent Green Agenda conference: Cyprus is sitting on a goldmine. He meant the sun, of course. Let’s hope one day everyone wakes up to that reality and finally does the obvious. My son, my sun, my golden King.

Final question: the desalination units, which were supposed to be operational immediately, then in June, then in mid-July, will they actually function this summer, or are we skipping baths this August?

This opinion was translated from its Greek original.

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Cyprus  |  politics  |  opinion  |  Onasagoras

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