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Cyprus PIO: News Update in English, 03-09-29
From: The Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office Server at <http://www.pio.gov.cy/>
[01]Monday, 29 September 2003 President Papadopoulos briefs representatives
of five UNSC permanent member states on Cyprus problem
[02] Foreign Minister attends meeting of 25 EU FMs with US Secretary of
State
[01] President Papadopoulos briefs representatives of five UNSC permanent
member states on Cyprus problem
The President of the Republic, Mr Tassos Papadopoulos, who was in New York
to attend the 58th UN General Assembly, had a working lunch last Friday
with the Representatives of the five Permanent Member States of the UN
Security Council, whom he briefed on the latest developments in the Cyprus
problem outlining the Cyprus Government's positions on that issue.
Participating in the working lunch, on behalf of the Security Council, were
the Russian Permanent Representative Mr Sergey Lavror, the US Permanent
Representative Mr John Negroponte, the French Permanent Representative Mr
Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, the UK Permanent Representative Sir Emyr Jones
Parry and the Chinese Permanent Representative Mr Guangya Wang. The Cypriot
officials who attended the lunch were the Foreign Minister Mr Georgios
Iacovou, Cyprus' UN Permanent Representative Mr Andreas Mavroyiannis, the
Director of the President's Diplomatic Office Mr Tasos Tzionis and the
Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Mr Andreas Hadjichrysanthou. In
remarks to the press following the working lunch, President Papadopoulos
said they had a two-hour discussion during which the Representatives of the
five Permanent Member States of the Security Council put forward questions
on the Cyprus problem. Asked to say whether the Security Council would have
a role to play at the current phase, Mr Papadopoulos replied negatively.
Replying to another question, the President said he got the general
impression that none of his interlocutors was expecting any developments
until the so-called "elections" in the Turkish-occupied areas of the
Republic this coming December. On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly
in New York, President Papadopoulos also had the opportunity to hold talks
with the Greek Foreign Minister Mr George Papandreou.
"It is our joint assessment that there is a wait by the international
community as regards the Cyprus problem and that our positions are gaining
quite a lot of support", Mr Papadopoulos noted after his meeting with Mr
Papandreou. The President also met with the US State Department's Special
Coordinator for Cyprus, Mr Thomas Weston and the US Under Secretary of
State, Mr Marc Grossman, who assured Mr Papadopoulos that "the US is
squarely and energetically for a solution to the Cyprus problem, a solution
that is fair and good for all the parties".
In addition, he held separate meetings with his counterparts of Guyana and
Mozambique and with the Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka and Andorra, with whom
he discussed bilateral relations as well as issues relating to the
Commonwealth, the European Union and the Islamic Conference. President
Papadopoulos is returning to Cyprus this afternoon.
[02] Foreign Minister attends meeting of 25 EU FMs with US Secretary of
State
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Georgios Iacovou, represented Cyprus to
the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the 25 EU member states and
acceding countries with the US Secretary of State, Mr Collin Powell, last
Friday in New York, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Mr Powell
made reference to Cyprus, during the meeting, expressing Washington's
position that the Cyprus problem "can and must be solved". "The Annan plan
remains on the table and all sides must be encouraged to find a settlement
before 1 May when Cyprus becomes full member of the EU", the US Secretary
of State further noted. On his part, Mr Iacovou underlined that the failure
of the peace talks at The Hague was due to Turkish intransigence, and
expressed the Greek Cypriot side's concern over the continuing negative
stance of the Turkish Cypriot leadership which continued to reject the
Annan plan. In addition, Foreign Minister Iacovou wrapped up his meetings
with foreign counterparts, on the fringes of the UN General Assembly, with
contacts he had last Saturday with his counterparts of Bangladesh and
Lebanon, whom he briefed on the situation regarding the Cyprus problem.
From the Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office (PIO) Server at http://www.pio.gov.cy/
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