UN Secretary-General’s personal representative Maria Angela Holguin is counting on Brussels as an accelerator for a settlement on Cyprus

Maria Angela Holguin, the personal representative of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Cyprus, plans to hold a series of important meetings in Brussels with European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen before returning to the island. According to a report by the Cypriot newspaper Fileleftheros, Ms. Holguin has radically revised her attitude toward the role of the European Union in resolving the frozen conflict. If she previously kept her distance from Brussels and saw the appointment of the EU special envoy for Cyprus as interference in her mandate, she now regards the EU as a «train capable of speeding up the process» ahead of the informal five-party meeting in Geneva at the end of July 2026.

Analysts note that involving Brussels is linked to the need to find economic and political incentives for Turkey, which ties progress on the Cyprus issue to its demands on the European Union. Ankara prioritizes liberalization and simplification of the visa regime for Turkish citizens, the modernization of the existing EU-Turkey Customs Union, as well as access to joint defense projects within the European SAFE fund. The UN mediation mission is trying to find points of contact, using these topics as levers to soften the Turkish side’s position in future negotiations.

However, diplomatic sources point to deep systemic obstacles on the European track, due to which relations with Ankara are not among Brussels’ top priorities, уступing precedence to the Ukrainian crisis. The main barrier to updating the Customs Union remains Turkey’s categorical refusal to open its sea and air ports to vessels of the Republic of Cyprus. In addition, Greece intends to block Ankara’s participation in EU SAFE defense initiatives because of continuing military risks in the Aegean Sea, while the domestic political situation in key European countries makes liberalization of the visa regime for Turkey unfeasible in the short term.