Lute wraps things up in Strasbourg

ΕU High Representative and Commission Vice President Feredirca Mogherini met Thursday in Strasbourg with the UN Secretary General’s special Envoy Jane Holl Lute to discuss the EU’s role in the Cyprus peace negotiations.

According to Chief Commission Spokesman Margaritis Schinas, the discussion concluded the UN envoy’s series of international meetings with the main actors following her appointment.

Mogherini and Lute discussed the current state of play in the negotiations and how the EU might keep supporting the efforts to resolve the Cyprus issue.

"Both sides agreed to keep in close touch", the Chief Spokesman said.

Earlier this week, Lute met with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias in Athens, while during the summer she also met separately with the two Cypriot leaders, President Nicos astasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, as well as Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Kotzias and Cavusoglu also met last week in Izmir, where the Greek foreign minister attended the inauguration of a renovated historic building of the Greek General Consulate in the Turkish city.

Both Greece and Turkey, along with the UK, are guarantor powers in Cyprus, a status that is being brought into question by both Nicosia and Athens.

London has maintained a neutral stance on the issue, saying it would go along with whatever the two sides of the conflict can agree.

Ankara insists that military presence and guarantees are crucial to acting as a deterrent against what Turkish Cypriots perceive as a threat coming from the larger community of Greek Cypriots.

Greek Cypriots, on the other hand, see guarantees as anathema citing their own fears stemming from the summer events of 1974, when Turkish military invaded Cyprus in response to a short-lived coup engineered by Athens.