Greece takes UN Security Council seat, Aiming to 'Keep Cyprus on the

Greece takes UN Security Council seat, Aiming to ‘Keep Cyprus on the Agenda’

Greece on Wednesday formally took its seat as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, with the country’s foreign minister Giorgos Gerapetritis promising that it would use the seat to “keep the Cyprus problem on the UN’s active agenda”.

Publish Date: 02/01/25 13:39

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Gerapetritis was speaking to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency ahead of Greece’s undertaking of the role, and said, “in solidarity with the Republic of Cyprus, we support the UN Secretary-General [Antonio Guterres’] efforts and look forward to contributing constructively” towards the resumption of dialogue on the Cyprus problem.

That dialogue, he said, must be geared towards “a just, sustainable, and workable solution to the Cyprus problem within the framework of Security Council resolutions”.

“As have stated in the past, in a world full of divisions, a united European Cyprus, beyond the conditions of prosperity it would create for its citizens, would constitute an extremely powerful universal symbol.”

He also reiterated his position that improving relations between Greece and Turkey can contribute towards better conditions in Cyprus.

In November, he had told Turkish newspaper Hurriyet that both Greece and Turkey have “shown remarkable will to take our bilateral relations on a different path” in recent months and that “thanks to the level of trust we have achieved step by step with [Turkish] Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, we are able to meet and prevent crises.”

Greece’s joining of the UN Security Council comes at what Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar believes will be a “very busy” January with regard to the Cyprus problem, with he and President Nikos Christodoulides set to meet in the near future over the possibility of new crossing points, and plans afoot for an “enlarged” Cyprus problem meeting in the coming months.

At the same time, UN under-secretary-general for peacebuilding Rosemary DiCarlo is set to visit Cyprus in the early part of the year, with her visit set to make up part of the preparations for the enlarged meeting.

That enlarged meeting will involve Greece, as well as Cyprus’ other two guarantor powers Turkey and permanent UN Security Council member the United Kingdom, as well as representatives from the UN itself and Cyprus’ two communities.

Outside of the Cyprus problem, the Greek foreign ministry said that during its two-year term on the Security Council, the country will “play an essential role in co-shaping international politics for the global security architecture and will have a significant voice, role, and responsibility in global developments”.

“Committed to a foreign policy based on principles, values and international law, Greece looks forward to acting as a stabilising factor, serving as a bridge between the north and the south, the east and the west, while contributing to restoring the true meaning of the principle of the peaceful resolution of disputes,” the ministry said.

Greece was inducted onto the Security Council alongside Denmark, Pakistan, Panama, and Somalia, and will remain on the council until the end of 2026. Algeria, Guyana, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, and South Korea will all end their two-year terms at the end of this year.

The Security Council also has five permanent members: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

This term marks Greece’s fifth stint on the Security Council, with the country having first been elected as a non-permanent member in 1952, and having previously most recently sat on the Security Council in 2005 and 2006.

Source: Cyprus Mail

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