Lute set to visit Cyprus anew by mid-January

The UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Cyprus, Jane Holl Lute, is expected to visit the island anew during the first half of January in view of holding meetings with the leaders of the two sides as preparations continue toward the organisation of an informal conference on the Cyprus problem.

The Cyprus News Agency reported Tuesday that the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, is moving forward with preparations for an informal conference between the two sides, the guarantor powers, and the UN, allowing all parties to officially express their views on the way forward.

Lute is also expected to pay a new visit to Turkey as part of the preparatory process.

Meanwhile, the UNSG’s reports on the peacekeeping force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) and his good offices mission are expected to be submitted to the UN Security Council around January 10.

The Security Council will discuss the reports sometime around January 25, before a resolution for the renewal of UNFICYP’s mandate will be put to a vote by January 31^st. The mandate of the force is renewed every six months by the UN Security Council.

In view of the submission of the UNSG’s reports to the Security Council, his Special Representative in Cyprus, Elizabeth Spehar, is expected to hold separate consultations with Cyprus President, Nicos Anastasiades, and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar, either in person or by telephone, after January 7, however nothing has been scheduled so far, according to CNA.
 
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic Spehar is not planning to fly to New York for the consultations that will take place there on the UNSG’s reports, which she will follow via videoconferences.