UN aim to steer up the process UN SG Special Adviser on the Cyprus problem, Alexander Downer pointing out that “it is been disappointing over the last 3 months how slowly these negotiations have been going“.

In statements to the Press after the meeting, which lasted one and half hour, he hold this afternoon in Geneva with President of the Republic of Cyprus Demetris Christofias and the Greek Cypriot negotiation team, Downer said that the negotiations really need to be revitalised.

At Thurday`s meeting, the UN “will do what they can to try to revitalise the process, to give more life and better prospects of success,“ Downer said.

Asked whether the UN expect acceleration of the negotiation process, Downer said: “the short answer to that question is yes. It could not go any slower without stopping all together. The last 3 months have been the worst 3 months we had since these negotiations began in September 2008. So, we really need to get these negotiations moving again“. The negotiations need to be revitalised and much more energy to be put into, Downer added, expressing his hope that tomorrow’s meeting will provide the opportunity to begin that process.

Asked how this will be done, he replied that for this we should wait for the meeting.

Additionally, Downer said replying to a questions as to what the expectations of the United Nations are since there were no convergences after the last meeting in Geneva, Downer said that there have been “minor convergences“. We had a meeting January 26 in Geneva and I appreciate that there have been elections in Cyprus and Turkey, UN Special Advisor said reminding that UNSG last November drew attention to the fact that the elections ware going to make the process very difficult. “But now that they are out of the way we really need to make this process more lively than it has been up to now,“ Downer stressed.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. UN-backed talks for a mutually agreed settlement to the problem of Cyprus, divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion began in September 2008. President Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu will hold a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, their third, tomorrow, July 7, in Geneva, to discuss further steps on the Cyprus issue.