Menelaou: Pyroi crossing point dispute resolved, Louroujina blocks deal

Greek Cypriot negotiator, Menelaos Menelaou, said on Wednesday that problems over the routing of the Pyroi crossing point “have been overcome”, although a dispute over a second crossing point still stands in the way of an agreement. Speaking on CyBC, Menelaou said the remaining obstacle was the Turkish Cypriot demand that the Louroujina to Lympia crossing be included in any such deal. This has not yet been reconciled with the Greek Cypriot proposal for a crossing at Kokkina. Christodoulides said on Tuesday that he had given the Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman two new proposals on crossing points, one of which had already been rejected. Erhurman separately confirmed late on Tuesday that he had rejected a proposal to open the fenced-off area of Varosha under United Nations administration and the port of Famagusta under European Union control. He said formal negotiations could not begin until the sides agree on methodology and make progress on confidence-building measures. New crossing points are the most concrete of those measures, for both sides agreed on a package of four after an enlarged meeting in Geneva in March 2025, when UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told each side to suggest two. The Pyroi crossing point would sit near Athienou, in the south-east of the Nicosia district, close to the buffer zone and the village of Louroujina. It forms part of the Greek Cypriot proposal for a road linking Athienou with the Nicosia suburb of Aglandjia, with a crossing point at each end, while the Turkish Cypriot side proposed Mia Milia and Louroujina. The package has since stalled, as during Guterres’ visit in July, sources told the Cyprus Mail that the Greek Cypriot side suggested opening only two of the four, with Louroujina shelved, which the Turkish Cypriot side refused. The Cyprus Mail contacted Menelaou for comment.