Trilateral Meeting on October 15 not Open Agenda, says Christodoulides

The President convened the National Council for October 7 at 11am am to brief parliamentary party leaders on developments, including his meeting in New York with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar.

Speaking about the upcoming summit of nine Mediterranean EU member states (MED9), which will take place in Paphos next week, Christodoulides said that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will also attend.

Additionally, he said he invited the King of Jordan to participate in the summit to discuss regional developments and how the EU and Cyprus can contribute to addressing the current challenges.

When asked about the trilateral meeting at the Cyprus Forum 2024 in Nicosia, Christodoulides reiterated that it will not be an open-agenda meeting.

“The discussion will focus solely on determining if there are prospects for resuming talks, and I consider the Secretary-General’s initiative to be highly significant,” he said.

He added that Cyprus has long sought this opportunity, and the aim remains to resume negotiations based on the agreed framework and where they left off at Crans-Montana.

“We are preparing for the meeting, which I view as a positive development. We will attend the dinner with full seriousness and do everything possible to achieve positive results,” Christodoulides said.

He then stressed the importance of the meeting.

“It’s positive that this is happening. Beyond that, I prefer to focus on the discussions and the outcome. What matters to me is achieving a result.”

On the geopolitical situation, Christodoulides acknowledged the region’s strategic importance and the concerning developments.

“We are a state with friendly relations with all our neighbours and represent the European Union in the region,” he said.

The President finally highlighted the significance of the upcoming MED9 summit, where he expects to discuss how the EU and Cyprus can help manage the current difficult situation.

“This is a very challenging situation,” he concluded.

The news regarding the tripartite meeting was given earlier in the day by deputy government spokesman Yiannis Antoniou has confirmed.

Antoniou said it has not yet been clarified if the tripartite will be a dinner or a social meeting.

He added that Christodoulides will first be flying to London for a meeting on October 14 with Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the first after the latter’s election.

After New York, Christodoulides will travel to Brussels for the European Council on October 17 and 18, where he will brief EU leaders on the outcome of the New York meeting.

Source: Cyprus Mail