Newsroom
Cyprus may be watching another opportunity for progress slip away—not because the United Nations has stopped trying, but because the two sides are still unwilling to take the political decisions needed to move forward.
That was the sobering message from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ personal envoy, Maria Angela Holguin, who warned that the more favorable conditions seen last year and early in 2026 are gradually disappearing.
“The window of opportunity is gradually closing,” Holguin told Turkey’s ANKA news agency, pointing to an increasingly confrontational climate and a lack of political will on both sides.
Her warning comes after efforts to arrange a trilateral meeting in New York between Guterres, President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman went nowhere.
According to Holguin, a trilateral meeting had not originally been included in the U.N. chief’s schedule. Christodoulides proposed one during his New York contacts, but Erhürman asked whether there was anything new on the table that could make such a meeting worthwhile.
Holguin said Christodoulides had repeated proposals already presented during an earlier meeting between the two leaders. Erhürman concluded that, without the conditions for meaningful progress, another meeting would be unlikely to produce a positive result.
It is a familiar—and deeply frustrating—pattern for Cypriots: One side asks for a meeting, the other asks what has changed, and the process stalls before the three leaders even sit at the same table.
The lack of movement is not confined to the larger and more difficult questions surrounding a settlement. Holguin said even practical confidence-building measures remain stuck despite being capable of improving everyday life on both sides of the divide.
These include cooperation on irregular migration, demining and sport, along with a new technical committee for natural disasters. Although the committee has been agreed upon, the two sides have yet to settle how they would respond together if a major fire, earthquake or other emergency struck the island.
New crossing points are also caught in the same political gridlock. Holguin referred to possible routes at Athienou-Aglantzia, Mia Milia and Louroudjina-Lympia.
She said a new crossing at Mia Milia could significantly increase trade—a benefit recognized by the chambers of commerce on both sides, but political approval has still not followed.
For ordinary people, these are not abstract diplomatic details. New crossings could shorten daily journeys, make it easier to work and trade across the divide, and reduce the hours many people spend in queues. Joint emergency planning could save lives when a disaster does not pause to check which side of the Green Line it has reached.
Holguin stressed that the U.N. can advise and create opportunities, but it cannot make political decisions on behalf of the two leaders.
“We can give advice, but ultimately the decision belongs to the leaders,” she said.
Her planned return in October will focus on whether the two sides can agree on a method for future negotiations, including the rules, principles, and short-, medium- and long-term objectives of a new process.
The U.N. is also reviewing the convergences reached between 2015 and 2017. Holguin said those records will not be presented before formal negotiations restart because releasing them earlier could simply trigger another argument over how previous agreements should be interpreted.
She warned that talks cannot succeed in a hostile environment and require both sides to accept concessions, compromise, and mutual benefit, qualities she said do not appear to exist at present.
That may be the most disappointing part of her message. Cyprus is not being told that a solution is around the corner. It is being warned that even the chance to begin a serious discussion is fading.
October now becomes another test: not of what the U.N. can propose, but of whether the island’s leaders are prepared to do anything with it.
