Holguin: Confidence-building measures an ‘indispensable condition’ for enlarged meeting

United Nations Cyprus problem envoy Maria Angela Holguin on Sunday said that the implementation of confidence-building measures is an “indispensable condition” to be fulfilled ahead of the possible convening of an enlarged meeting. “Confidence-building measures should not be seen merely as symbolic steps which improve the atmosphere between the two communities, but rather as practical tools which test the viability of a future political order,” she told Turkey’s Anka news agency. She added that confidence-building measures are “important in demonstrating whether cooperation works in practice”, and said that “such initiatives help create the collaborative habits which a future solution will need”. “People’s fear of a solution or change can only be overcome through concrete implementations in the field. Societies’ anxieties about a solution can be reduced to the extent that these measures do not impact daily life,” she said. 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On the matter of the substance of the Cyprus problem, Holguin on Sunday said that Guterres is attempting to “determine the final act of the process rather than prepare a new comprehensive plan for a solution”. “After years of intermittent and open-ended negotiations, a process without a clear sequence, concrete proposals, or accountability risks failure again,” she said, before adding that “the essential element which needs to change is how Cypriots perceive the existing realities and the tools which can transform them”. To this end, she said that it would be “easier” to enter a formal process of negotiations with “predetermined rules” if “the sides saw a concrete negotiation framework before them, with clearly defined parameters, substance, and method, and had an idea of the possible outcome at the end of the process”. She added that this can only be achieved “if both sides make a genuine commitment and are ready to initiate the process”, but stressed that “this is not as difficult as it seems”. Nikos Christodoulides, Maria Angela Holguin and Tufan Erhurman On this front, she said that both Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman and President Nikos Christodoulides showed “a willingness to discuss the key issues of a solution” during her various meetings with both leaders. “There were signs that the fundamental elements of a solution, including governance, property, territory, security, guarantees, and the role of the European Union can be negotiated. This was a development we have not seen since the end of the Crans-Montana process,” she said, in reference to the most recent round of negotiations in earnest in 2017. She said that she has “encouraged face-to-face meetings between the two leaders”, and that they are now “slowly but surely beginning to discuss their core objectives and visions for the future”. Regarding the UN’s own position, she said that “the main issue in Cyprus negotiations today is not a lack of knowledge about the fundamental aspects of a solution, but rather determining how the sides will resume negotiations”. She said that she “constantly emphasises that the status quo does not mean that the realties on the ground remain frozen”, and to this end said that it is “unrealistic for the sides to negotiate with the mentality of five or 20 years ago as if nothing has changed”. Now, she said, “all sides know the essence of the matter”, and “what we are now working on is the method”. Antonio Guterres with the leaders during his visit to the island last month She said that it was for this reason that Guterres did not wish to convene a new enlarged meeting “without sufficient preparation” as “a poorly established process inherently poses a risk”. As such, she said, “the UN is trying to present the sides with a clear and transparent roadmap”, and “the critical part is now for all sides to agree to work together and participate earnestly in the process with the aim of finding a solution”. On the matter of convergences reached thus far, she stressed that “previous convergences are an achievement, not a starting point to be renegotiated line-by-line”. “Reopening them individually could lead to a waste of time and the undoing of the progress made over the years. The UN’s approach is to properly preserve past convergences as common ground for future negotiations,” she said. She then stressed that there is a difference between a “convergence” and an “agreement”, saying that “a convergence means that the sides have moved closer to each other on a given issue, but due to the principle that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, which has always been in force in Cyprus negotiations, these convergences are not binding”. “For the past few months, we have been working on a convergence document based on UN records. We believe this could be useful for future negotiations,” she said. Regarding the failure to agree upon or implement any confidence-building measures during her and Guterres’ visits to the island last month, she said that “presenting the process as ‘one side accepted, the other rejected’ is both unhelpful and not entirely accurate”. She said that there was “a broad agreement at the conceptual level on various measures, including some crossing points and cooperation in the buffer zone”, but that “the real problem arose during the implementation phase” of the talks. Nikos Christodoulides and Tufan Erhurman “In Cyprus, the sides are reluctant to take steps without receiving immediate reciprocity, and potential future gains are not considered sufficient. This leads to constant delays, obstructions, and deadlocks,” she said. As such, she added, “the working method is not about blaming a side”, as “the question of who is to blame in Cyprus is always on the menu”. “The search for blame only hardens positions and does not contribute to problem-solving. This time, I want Cypriots to focus not on finding out who is to blame, but on finding and implementing a solution,” she said. She went on to warn of potential negative consequences down the line should a solution to the Cyprus problem not be found, saying that “division, apathy, and diverging realities are shaping the future of Cyprus, and this future may not be in the direction which most Cypriots desire”. As such, she said, “if a society cannot solve its own fundamental problems, unexpected forces may begin to make decisions on its behalf”. On the matter of what successful next steps may look like for the Cyprus problem, she said that “success is establishing a political negotiation process which is accountable, time-bound, and involves a genuine commitment to reaching the end, a final agreement”. Christodoulides and Erhurman at a previous meeting She said that during this process, both leaders and communities “will at some point face a real strategic choice, a choice between a negotiated common future and the uncertain and volatile long-term management of ongoing division”. “I do not believe that this choice can be postponed indefinitely,” she said, before stressing that the positive elements of the current political climate are not to be underestimated. She pointed out that Tufan Erhurman won last year’s Turkish Cypriot leadership election “on the platform of a federal solution” and that Antonio Guterres is “personally committed to the process”, while “the guarantor powers and the European Union are actively participating”, while the UN security council is also offering its support. “I think we should not assume that this window of opportunity will remain open, no matter what we do with it,” she said.