President spills details on UNSG's Envoy – Big changes ahead

Cyprus President, Nikos Christodoulides, has said that the UNSG's envoy for Cyprus should spend time on the island rather than paying a visit for some days, adding that as he has been informed her appointment will go into effect on January 1st, 2024.

In statements to the press on Sunday, the President said that they are waiting for the official announcements by the UNSG but as he has been informed, the appointment of the envoy will go into effect on the first day of the new year.

He noted that that immediately after the envoy will visit New York to meet with the UN Secretary General, and then will pay Cyprus a visit.

He said once again that taking into account his previous experience from various envoys and advisors, the envoy should stay the island not just for 24 or 48 hours, but rather "come here and spend time working with us."

The President said that the envoy will of course visit Ankara, London, Athens, Brussels, but should stay and spend days in Cyprus so that the conditions are formed, via discussion, to reach the aim for the resumption of the peace talks on the agreed framework.

Regarding Nicosia's proposal for the humanitarian corridor for Gaza, he said that there are developments to this end and that there may be some announcements later on Sunday.

He noted that a group of Israelis came to Cyprus and a new team will visit these days. He furthermore said that as soon as there is a green light from Israel, humanitarian aid will be sent.

President Christodoulides also noted that the situation for the civilians is dire and much more needs to be done.

He once again expressed his disagreement with the fact that the European Council in Brussels did not reach a result on the Middle East. According to the President the EU is sending a very wrong message to the region and that is why he spoke to some of our partners in the Mediterranean states "so that we start preparing for the day after the war."

The President noted that if we don't start discussing about it and if we don't reach a framework and basic principles, he is very afraid that this situation will either be repeated or will continue. He noted that the EU needs to play a leading role in the region.

Replying to a question he said that he agrees with some of the EUCO decisions regarding Ukraine’s and some other countries’ EU course , but he expressed his disagreement and concern about the way some decisions were taken and also about the fact that it was not possible to reach conclusions on the Middle East.

Cyprus has been divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion. Numerous peace talks under the UN aegis failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations took place in the summer of 2017 in the Swiss resort of Crans Montana.