UN mediator Eide sees will for solution on Cyprus
The United Nations mediator for the Cyprus issue, Espen Barth Eide, has told Kathimerini that he is convinced Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish-Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci want to find a solution.
“The two leaders want a solution,” he told Kathimerini during his visit to Athens for talks with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias on Tuesday.
“They have dedicated a lot of time to this. There have been a lot of meetings: 20 between them, 63 between their negotiators and hundreds between their aides. A serious effort is being made.”
Eide suggested that he can sense an improving mood between the two sides and a personal chemistry between Anastasiades and Akinci.
He also stressed that the difference between any agreement that emerges now and the Annan Plan of 2004, which was rejected by Greek Cypriots, is that this time any deal would be drawn up by the two leaders and their teams rather than a third party.
