Eide: “The leaders had a constructive exchange on remaining divergences”

Special Adviser of the UN Secretary-General on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide delivered a statement on behalf of the Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Anastasiades and the Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akıncı after the meeting of the Leaders which lasted 4 hours yesterday. The statement is as follows:

“Today, the Greek Cypriot leader Mr. Nikos Anastasiades, and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mr. Mustafa Akıncı, deliberated on the outstanding issues in the negotiations. Conscious of the need to build on the current momentum, they had a constructive exchange on remaining divergences and instructed the negotiators on the way forward.

The Leaders welcomed the initiation of the work of the bi-communal ad-hoc committee on EU preparation, which aims at preparing the future Turkish Cypriot State for the implementation of the EU acquis upon entry into force of the settlement agreement.

The Leaders recognize that serious work still lies ahead and reiterated their commitment to significantly intensify the pace of their negotiations following their next meeting on Friday 30th October.”

Upon the invitation of Anastasiades, the Leaders had a dinner together after the meeting which took place at the buffer zone under the auspices of the Special Adviser of the UN Secretary-General on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide.  Eide, the negotiators and the spokespersons joined the Leaders at the dinner.