EU Wants To Play Positive Role In Cyprus Settlement

The EU is committed to playing a positive role in settling the Cyprus dispute, a top EU official said Friday.

The European Union "will be very committed" to backing UN-led talks on Cyprus as an observer, European Council President Charles Michel told reporters after EU leaders met for a videoconference.

"We think indeed that we can play a positive or fruitful role in order to support all the positive efforts in order to have more progress in the region," said Michel.

He said the bloc wanted "more stability and more predictability in this important region for us."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced Wednesday he would convene an informal meeting on Cyprus in April involving two parties on the island and three guarantor countries of Turkey, Greece and the UK.

The island of Cyprus has been divided since 1964, when ethnic attacks forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety. In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aiming at Greece's annexation led to Turkey's military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was founded in 1983.

The Cyprus issue remains unresolved despite a series of efforts in recent years, including a failed 2017 UN initiative with the participation of the guarantor countries. -