Eide: “Leaders are now entering into substantive negotiations”

The UN Secretary General`s Special Adviser on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide said on Wednesday that Cyprus’ leaders are now entering into substantive negotiations on unresolved core issues. In a statement after the third meeting between Anastasiades and Akinci, in the framework of UN-led negotiations on the Cyprus problem, Eide said that “with strong determination, and driven by their joint commitment,” the two leaders “pursued their goal of reaching a comprehensive settlement as soon as possible.”
He added that the leaders, agreed that these negotiations will be the centerpiece of their work from now on and that they will be dealt with in a holistic and interdependent manner.
He added, “The leaders jointly reviewed the work achieved by their negotiators to date. They welcomed the successful conclusion of the baseline assessment that they had entrusted to the negotiators in their first meeting on 15 May 2015.”
Therefore, he added, “Mr. Anastasiades and Mr. Akıncı have tasked their negotiators to focus their work on a specific set of core issues across chapters. They will work intensively on this task and report back to the next leaders’ meeting to be held on 29 June 2015.”
“Reaffirming the constructive atmosphere at the negotiating table, Mr. Anastasiades and Mr. Akıncı expressed once again their resolve to move forward without delay and to achieve further progress towards reaching a comprehensive settlement,” Eide noted.