Security Council Press Statement on Cyprus

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Barbara Woodward (United Kingdom):

The members of the Security Council expressed their full support for the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) and stressed the importance of full respect for its mandate and implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions.

The members of the Security Council welcomed the continuing personal engagement of the Secretary-General and that of his team, and reiterated support for his proposal for a United Nations envoy to lead further engagement as soon as possible.

The members of the Security Council encouraged renewed engagement on the island following recent elections and urged both sides to seize this window of opportunity, including by taking tangible steps and implementing other gestures of goodwill to promote a conducive climate.

The members of the Security Council reiterated the importance of the sides and all involved parties showing openness, flexibility and compromise, with the goal of returning to formal negotiations to achieve a comprehensive and just settlement based on a bicommunal, bizonal federation with political equality as set out in relevant Security Council resolutions.

The members of the Security Council reaffirmed their commitment to an enduring, comprehensive and just settlement, and stressed the need to avoid unilateral actions, including actions that violate the military status quo along the ceasefire lines or encroachment into the Buffer Zone, and noted that such actions could raise tensions on the island and undermine the prospects for a peaceful settlement.