UN urges ‘political will’ and compromise to reunify Cyprus

CAMEROON, Cameroon – The U.N. Security Council is calling on rival parties in Cyprus “to show real political will and responsibility and make the necessary compromises” to reunify the divided Mediterranean island.

The council said after a closed-door briefing Tuesday by U.N. envoy Elizabeth Spehar that the parties should “engage meaningfully” with the United Nations and “urgently build on the progress achieved towards a bizonal, bicommunal federal solution to the Cyprus issue.”

Council members welcomed the appointment of Jane Holl Lute, a U.N. official and former U.S. deputy Homeland Security secretary, as a consultant to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “on Cyprus settlement.”

Negotiations between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders a year ago failed. The U.N. said Lute will sound out all parties to see if conditions have ripened to resume peace talks.