UNSC backs federal solution to Cyprus Problem

The UN Security Council (UNSC) on Tuesday expressed its support to the efforts being undertaken by the UN Secretary-General (UNSG) to resume Cyprus Problem peace talks and unanimously stood behind a bizonal bicommunal federation settlement basis.

The UNSC's stance was relayed to the press via diplomatic sources following the UNSC's briefing by the UNSG’s Special Representative Elizabeth Spehar.

Spehar briefed the members of the Council on issues concerning the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) and the good offices mission, focusing on the efforts made by Antonio Guterres and his special envoy Jane Holl Lute to convene an informal 5+1 summit. The briefing lasted a little bit more than one and a half hour. 

Responding to a question by the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), the UNSG`s spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, said that Spehar was briefing the Security Council on the latest developments - as she is mandated.

Asked if the UNSG has decided if he will convene the informal 5+1 conference in mid-February, Dujarric said that there is no concrete date at the moment.

Moreover, he noted that the UNSG has been very clear in his efforts to resolve the Cyprus Problem.

Meanwhile, Britain handed over on Monday to the rest of the UNSC permanent members a draft resolution on the renewal of UNFICYP`s mandate, which the Council will be called to adopt on January 28.

Consultations between the five permanent members on the resolution will begin on Wednesday. The draft resolution refers to the basis of a solution and welcomes the UNSG`s intention to call for an informal 5+1 conference. 

The resolution’s reference to the sought-after solution would calm tensions and concerns that have arisen among political forces in the Republic of Cyprus in view of the UNSG’s lack of reference to the solution being sought in his report on UNFICYP and the good offices mission. The absence of such a reference is likely based on the intensifying calls by Turkey and the new Turkish Cypriot leadership under Ersin Tatar for an alternative, two-state solution. Efforts by President Anastasiades to correct the omission proved fruitless.

Parties in the Republic also cried foul on Tuesday over the UNSG’s lack of reference to the Republic of Cyprus, which was referred to as ‘Greek Cypriot authorities’, which parties viewed as relegating the Republic to the status of a community equal to that of the north.