Cypriot President Demetris Christofias arrived in Athens yesterday evening for a meeting with the Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou today. Christofias was invited by the Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament Philipos Petsalnikos. In the morning, Christofias will meet with Petsalnikos. After he has an hour long scheduled meeting with Papandreou in his office at the Hellenic Parliament. The President will be the key speaker at a special meeting of the Hellenic Parliament plenary that is dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Republic of Cyprus. He will also attend the opening ceremony of a photo exhibition titled: “Famagusta, a European Ghost Town.” His meeting with the Greek PM follows a tripartite meeting in New York with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglou. Duing these discussions, the three agreed to speed up the process and meet again at the end of January in Geneva. The UNSG effectively sent a clear message to both leaders that the UN and international community can’t wait as the two engage in endless talks. He urged both leaders to provide a boost to the slow-moving talks, starting by intensifying the number of meetings from now until January. He also committed Eroglu and Christofias to formulating a road map for breaking the deadlock and making a list of all points of convergence and divergence in all six chapters. Based on that list the UN will decide its next steps, stated Ban in a forceful message after the meeting. This will be the first time the two leaders will be forced to discuss key issues such as territory and security. It will also give Eroglu a chance to show his intentions regarding the three previous chapters negotiated by his predecessor Mehmet Ali Talat. Eroglu has hinted that he will submit his own proposals on the chapters of governance, economy and EU affairs, despite Ban highlighting that Christofias and Talat had made sufficient progress in these areas. If enough progress is made by January, the press suggests the UN will consider holding an international conference to iron out the last obstacles towards a solution. This is where Greece will have the chance to play a much bigger role than it has done to date. The nations will have a clear say in the security chapter on the Treaty of Guarantee. If the gap between the two sides remains at large, some analysts have suggested the UN will give up on the talks in their current format based on a bizonal, bicommunal federation.
(source: cyprus-mail)
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
