The real message conveyed by the UN Secretary-General’s Reports

19 July 2020, HARAVGI newspaper

Article by Stavri Kalopsidiotou, member of the Cyprus Problem Bureau, International Law expert and member of the Central Committee of AKEL

In anticipation of the UN Security Council resolution on the renewal of the mandate of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) we have been following in recent days a theatre from whose plot any logical relevance is absent. Bearing in mind the two Reports submitted by the UN Secretary General, which were released officially last Wednesday, certain forces and circles, evidently trying to form impressions on the domestic front, hasted to portray to the press a positive picture of what the Greek Cypriot side has achieved. But before the crow crows twice the front with the representative of the United Nations in Cyprus had already opened once again with the Reports themselves once more at the centre.

Regardless of what is being attributed to the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Cyprus and Head of UNFICYP Mrs. Spehar with regards the checkpoints issue, who as the UN Secretary-General records conveys a series of events, we are concerned by the fact that the Presidency is more concerned with this issue, instead of the numerous and strong messages Mr. Guterres is conveying and which concern the substance of the Cyprus problem. This is a trivial and not at all diplomatic treatment of the international organization, in the person of its representative here in Cyprus, at a time when, in anticipation of the voting procedure in the occupied territories, we should be more concerned with creating the best possible conditions for the resumption of negotiations – that will remain under its auspices. This profound illogical stand reveals a disorienting inability on the part of the President to deal with the substance, as we have unfortunately seen repeatedly happening at least for the past three years.

On the contrary, what the Presidency should primarily have been concerned about, with regards the content of the two Reports of the UN Secretary General, is something else. What should be cause of reflection is why Mr. Guterres once again avoids taking a position denouncing Turkey’s intolerable provocative actions, while on the natural gas issue he is content just to state that both communities should enjoy the benefits and that natural gas should be used as an incentive for a solution.

It is the reiteration of the criticism he exerts in reality with his reference to the obstacles that are being raised in relation to Confidence Building Measures (CBM’s), because, as he says, “they are “linked to the status of the north and concerns relating to “recognition”, although he clarifies that the UN policy on Cyprus and the relevant Security Council resolutions applies to this issue as well.

It is the bringing back of the proposal for the establishment of a military contact mechanism, in relation to which he refers to a declared commitment by the parties for its establishment, something about which a relevant briefing is expected on the part of the President of the Republic.

Is there anyone who, having read these two Reports, does not comprehend where the Cyprus problem can be driven to? In assessing these Reports, shouldn’t the President have been guided in the policy he charts by the same concern expressed by Mr. Guterres when he underlines that, “The lack of negotiations since July 2017 does not mean that the situation on the island remains unchanged, either at the political level or in the buffer zone”, citing Varosha, hydrocarbons, the delimitation of the EEZ, the refugee issue, and even the pandemic as indicative examples?

What messages are drawn from the Secretary General’s correct conclusion that while the CBM’s are important, they do not constitute the solution to the Cyprus problem?

The path ahead is specific. It is outlined yet again by Mr. Guterres. Verbal commitments expressing readiness for a resumption of the dialogue are not enough. As much as the Secretary General states he is ready to continue the effort to reach a conclusion on the terms of reference as agreed in Berlin last November, the two leaders too must demonstrate in practice their own readiness. It is no coincidence at all that the UN Secretary-General has warned that the lack of a solution of the Cyprus problem is increasingly unsustainable, urging the two leaders to contribute towards the creation of the suitable climate and to demonstrate their readiness in practice to continue the negotiations from where they had remained at Crans Montana.

What we want to see is how they assess it in practice and what initiatives they are undertaking with the footnote that on the responsibility of the Anastasiades-DISY government too for the experimentations over the last three years, the perspective of the Cyprus problem is now also subject to the result of the voting procedure in the occupied territories.