Stuurgroep Cyprus komt bijeen

On 14 April President Barroso i chaired a meeting of the Cyprus Steering Group  in which Vice-President Viviane Reding i and Commissioner Štefan Füle i participated. It was the first meeting of the Group under the Barroso II Commission. The Group discussed the results of the ongoing settlement talks and looked in particular at EU related aspects of a future settlement. Leopold Maurer, the personal representative of President Barroso to the UN Good Offices Mission reported on his mission. The overall assessment was that important progress has been made by the leaders of the two communities Demetris Christofias and Mehmet Ali Talat towards a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus issue.

President Barroso, on 30 March, had already issued a statement commending the level of commitment and responsibility of the two leaders. He reiterated the full support of the European Commission to the efforts of the leaders of the two Communities aimed at reaching a settlement soon.

The Cyprus Steering Group was established by President Barroso in January 2009 as a means to support the settlement talks and co-ordinate positions on EU related aspects of a settlement. In this context, President Barroso appointed in October 2009 Leopold Maurer his personal representative to the Good Offices mission of the UN in Cyprus led by Alexander Downer, the Special Advisor to the UN SG Ban Ki-moon i.