Cyprus PIO: News Update in English, 00-11-13

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From: The Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office Server at <http://www.pio.gov.cy/>

Monday, 13 November 2000

CONTENTS

• [01] Fifth round of UN sponsored talks on Cyprus ends in Geneva
• [02] Cyprus and Greece sign cooperation protocol in the field of international road transport.

[01] Fifth round of UN sponsored talks on Cyprus ends in Geneva

Speaking at a press conference after the meetings, Mr de Soto said that they had concluded "several days of intensive work" adding that there had been a number of meetings with each of the parties, which had a flexible format.

The UN Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan "has invited the two sides to meet again in late January", Mr de Soto said. Anticipating journalists' questions as to whether the two sides have agreed to come to the next round of talks, Mr de Soto said he " was not in a position to press the parties for a reply to the Secretary General's invitation", since for scheduling reasons he could not give a precise date.

Mr de Soto said that the Secretary General met with each of the parties last week and gave them "some thoughts about procedure and also about some substantive aspects of a comprehensive settlement in the hope of facilitating negotiations."

He clarified that the Secretary General did not put forward a proposal but made "oral remarks" which he made available to them in a transcript.

The Secretary-General hopes that "they will in the coming weeks and months, reflect on these ideas about procedure and substance, particularly the latter, and they will take them into account", he said. He pointed out that Mr Annan expects the two sides to conduct these reflections about the work to date, including all the ideas that have been put to them in the last few months, in private. Moreover, he said the Secretary General hopes that the parties' reactions to these ideas and thoughts will be conveyed to him or to his representative also privately.

Replying to a question as to whether a qualitative step towards the ultimate objective for a settlement has been achieved in this round of talks, as in New York, Mr de Soto said the depth and nature of engagement continued also in Geneva:

"I believe that the parties are engaged, this does not mean they are entirely or equally happy about the developments but they are certainly still firmly engaged", he said." It is impossible to keep everyone happy all of the time" he said and expressed the hope that that "everyone will be happy at the end of the day, once we reach a comprehensive settlement".

Asked if he could report on any progress in this round of talks, Mr de Soto said that given the method of negotiations adopted, measurement of progress is extremely difficult because of the absence of face to face negotiations. No actual give and take is occurring in the usual sense he said, adding that we will know whether there is progress once there is a package deal at the very end.

Referring to the European Union accession course of both Cyprus and Turkey, he described the publication of the Turkey-EU partnership agreement and the Secretary-General's oral remarks to the parties as a coincidence. He said he believed that certain external factors are a positive force that should help energise the process concerning Cyprus.

Replying to other questions, Mr de Soto said the Secretary-General is "acting in conformity with his mandate and is conducting the process from his perspective in the framework of Security Council resolution 1250".

[02] Cyprus and Greece sign cooperation protocol in the field of international road transport.

The two sides decided to increase by 120 percent the licences issued for the transport of goods to third countries.

The issue of liberalising road transport licences was also discussed, but it was decided that it would be examined at next year's meeting of the joint commission in Athens, as Cyprus has not yet harmonised its relevant laws with those of the European Union.

From the Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office (PIO) Server at http://www.pio.gov.cy/

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