UN Secretary-General to visit Cyprus for the first time in 16 years

UN Secretary-General António Guterres will visit Cyprus at the end of July in an attempt to break the deadlock in talks on a Cyprus settlement. The exact date of the visit has not yet been announced, but according to local media reports, the decision to make the trip has already been taken.

If the visit goes ahead, Guterres will become the first UN secretary-general to visit the island since 2010. Ban Ki-moon visited Cyprus that year.

The UN chief is expected to meet with the leaders of both communities. His visit is seen as part of efforts to resume talks on the Cyprus issue.

In addition, representatives of the European Union will visit Cyprus in the near future. The European Commission’s new special representative, Raffaele Fitto, is also preparing a programme of meetings on the island and in the region.

On Thursday, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Cyprus, Hassim Diab, will present the UN Security Council with a confidential report on the situation on the island and the work of the UN peacekeeping mission UNFICYP.