UNFICYP (the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus) has been on Cyprus for many years and it must remain there, because no solution has been found, the Permanent Representative of France to the UN Ambassador Nicolas De Rivière said in an interview with the Athens-Macedonian News Agency.
According to the Ambassador, UNFICYP’s mission is to guarantee security on the line of confrontation between the two communities. The Security Council renewed the decision to renew the mandate of UNFICYP. There was no doubt about that. France has always supported this process. The major question is whether there is room for discussion between the leaders of the two communities.
Nicolas De Rivière underlined: We have always been in favour of dialogue, but with a clear approach: The solution promoted by the Security Council resolutions is based on a bicommunal, bizonal federation. The problem we face is that for many years there was some consensus on this basis. Now, however, the Turkish Cypriot side, with the support of Turkiye, is promoting a kind of two-state solution, which is very different from the UN approach.
Of course, talks should be resumed, he stressed, adding that if the goals of the two sides are so different, the process becomes extremely difficult. If there is room for discussion, then yes, negotiations should be resumed. But if the vision of the two sides for the future is completely opposite – and especially if Turkiye and the Turkish Cypriot leadership insist on the so-called two-state solution, such a solution will not be good for Cyprus, the Ambassador said among others.
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Source: ANA-MPA
