The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday called on the leaders of Cyprus to “intensify the momentum of negotiations” and reach a resolution on the island’s 37-year-old division before Cyprus assumes the European Union’s rotating presidency on July 1 next year.
Speaking at a news conference in Washington following a Security Council resolution to extend the UN peacekeeping force’s mandate on the divided island for another seven months, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was optimistic about the progress made so far by Greek-Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias and Turkish-Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu, but stressed that time for reaching a settlement was “quite limited,” as Cyprus’s presidency of the EU would make talks “politically difficult and sensitive.”
Source: Kathimerini