UN official says foundations in place for Cyprus talks

The director-general of the United Nations office in Geneva, Michael Moller, insists that there there is a “good foundation” for talks to move forward to reunify the ethnically-divided island of Cyprus.

In an interview with the Athens-Macedonian News Agency on Saturday, Moller, who was also a special UN mediator for the Cyprus issue between 2006 and 2008, said that Greek and Turkish Cypriots have to build on this foundation. Both sides and the wider region, he added, could reap huge economic benefits from a reunification.

Talks between the Greek and Turkish sides collapsed in acrimony last year. Last month, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said negotiations will not resume before the Turkish elections on June 24.

With regard to the refugee crisis, Moller said Greece has been “extraordinarily generous.”

“I think that the rest of the world has not been as generous in helping Greece,” he added.