U.N. Secretary General Ki-moon Hopes for 2011 Cyprus & FYROM Resolutions

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stressed, “As a matter of principle, the imposition of any timetable is not desired,”.  He was referring to the UN-brokered negotiations for resolving the FYROM name issue and the Cyprus issue, during a press conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Friday.
Replying to a press question on Cyprus, the UN chief expressed hope that the leaders of the two communities will have succeeded in making “greater progress on the essential issues of the talks, including property and security”, by his meeting with them in Geneva on January 26th. (ANA-MPA)
Ban Ki-moon noted that he is scheduled to meet with the two leaders in Geneva, and will become personally involved in the negotiations, as agreed in November. The meeting concerns issues that have been long outstanding, and “the negotiation is very difficult, but it is very encouraging that the leaders of the two communities have held direct talks 80 times”.
Regarding the name issue between Greece and FYROM, he noted that his special envoy on the issue Matthew Nimetz, will continue his efforts.  He will have a meeting with the representatives of the two sides in New York on February 9th.  The meeting will underline the momentum created last year from the direct contacts between the prime ministers of Greece and FYROM. It is now time to move ahead to decisions that will resolve the issue in a mutually acceptable way.
“2011 is a year with many challenges,” Ban Ki-moon stressed.
(source: ana-mpa)