The UN Security Council unanimously adopted on Monday, during an open session, resolution 1986/2011, by which the mandate of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) is renewed until December 15, 2011.

The wording of the resolution had been agreed on since Thursday, so Monday`s voting and the briefing by the UN Secretary General`s Special Representative in Cyprus Lisa Buttenheim was purely formal.

Buttenheim has told CNA that she had never seen a resolution being adopted before the briefing of the Security Council.

Security Council President Noel Nelson Messone said the resolution was adopted before Buttenheim`s briefing for practical reasons and that the briefing was not linked to the adoption of the resolution.

During the briefing, Buttenheim referred to UNFICYP issues and the mission of good offices, noting that she was happy that the resolution had been adopted unanimously and that the members of the Security Council support UNFICYP and the Secretary General`s good offices.

Buttenheim noted that the forthcoming meeting in Geneva between the UN Secretary General and the leaders of the two communities in Cyprus, scheduled for July 7, was important and that the UN team was working hard to make preparations.

All Security Council members that took the podium expressed hope that the Geneva meeting would contribute towards intensifying the process for a Cyprus settlement.

Regarding the demining work in Cyprus, the British representative said there was lack of progress. He also said that there should be a restructuring of UNFICYP, with or without a solution, and pointed out that that the renewal of the mandate every June and December should change, as they were busy months.