Press Releases

The Republic of Cyprus was represented on April 25, 2018, by the Permanent Representative Ambassador Kornelios Korneliou at the High-Level Meeting on “Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace” which took place at the United Nations Headquarters, in New York, on 24-25 of April 2018.

In his intervention, Mr. Korneliou reiterated that the ‘sustaining peace’ agenda is part of a wider response to the urgent need to strengthen the coherence of the UN system aiming at addressing the root causes of conflicts and new threats and challenges to international peace and security, such as terrorism and extremism.

“The concept of ‘sustaining peace’ represents a shift in current practice, as it espouses a system-wide approach that incorporates peace-building and peacekeeping alongside sustainable development, human rights and humanitarian activities. Sustaining peace is essentially the responsibility of Member States and the process must be owned and led by the governments and people of conflict-affected countries, with the support of the international community,” he said.

Regarding the Cyprus problem, Mr. Korneliou stressed that it remains an issue of international peace and security of the United Nations, due to the enduring foreign occupation and forceful de-facto division of the country, in gross violation of the UN Charter and the international law.

He also expressed his appreciation for the role of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Cyprus, UNFICYP, and emphasized that as long as the prevailing situation on the ground remains unchanged and until a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem is reached, UNFICYP’s continued presence, in its current mandate, remains indispensable.

He reiterate that Cyprus remains firmly committed to a solution of the Cyprus problem, as enshrined in the relevant UN resolutions, as the only way forward. The United Nations remains the only forum through which a comprehensive settlement can be achieved and should thus be at the forefront of efforts to reunite Cyprus.  A just and lasting settlement would benefit the people of Cyprus and contribute decisively to the wider efforts to maintain a much-needed environment of peace, stability and prosperity in the region.

“We hope that this event will contribute to forging a strong consensus on a renewed and reformed Peace and Security Architecture by 2020 and that the United Nations will be better equipped to help fragile and war-torn nations build a more durable and just peace,” he concluded.

(AH)