Anastasiades to meet UN official ahead of April 16 dinner

President Nicos Anastasiades is scheduled to meet Friday morning with the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative Elizabeth Spehar ahead of his informal dinner date with Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci next week.

Spehar will host a dinner for Anastasiades and Akinci next Monday at her residence inside the Nicosia bufferzone. This will be the first time the two men have met since the Crans-Montana debacle last summer, which ended in tatters.

Spehar stated after a meeting, earlier on Tuesday, with Akinci that she will be meeting with President Anastasiades later in the week. Government Spokesman Prodromos Prodromou told CNA that the meeting was set for Friday morning.

UNFICYP Spokesperson Aleem Siddique said Spehar “looks forward to hosting the leaders for their informal meeting on the 16th of April and she will continue her contacts with both sides in preparation for this meeting.”

Furthermore, President Anastasiades on Wednesday will meet the Greek Cypriot Heads of the Bicommunal Technical Committees.

The aim is to reaffirm the commitment of the Greek Cypriot side in continuing with the work of the Committees.

Efforts are also underway to set a date for convening a meeting of the President with political party leaders before the dinner.

Anastasiades and Akinci have been engaged in UN-backed negotiations for a solution to the Cyprus problem since 2015.

The latest round of talks took place in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana but ended with each side blaming the other for its failure to yield results.

The dinner date is not expected to lead to the resumption of UN-led reunification talks but it may help in dispelling the climate of distrust that has prevailed since the Swiss summit.

UN talks aim at reuniting Cyprus, divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion, under a federal roof.