S/PV.8586 Security Council

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. Members of the Council have before them document S/2019/595, which contains the text of a draft resolution submitted by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. I wish to draw the attention of Council members to document S/2019/562, which contains the report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations operation in Cyprus. It is my understanding that the Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution before it. I should like to inform the Council that the presidency of the Council has met with the representatives of the parties, who have confirmed that they maintain their well-known positions vis-à-vis the item on the Council’s agenda. On the basis of those meetings, with the consent of the members of the Council, the presidency has drawn the conclusion that the Council can proceed to take a decision on the draft resolution before it. If I hear no objection, I shall put the draft resolution to the vote now.

The draft resolution received 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 2483 (2019). I shall now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements.

I thank the United Kingdom for its efforts in reaching consensus on resolution 2483 (2019) and also in producing a more concise resolution, in line with the Security Council’s agreement to reduce text in resolutions. The United States believes that this new mandate sends an important message from the Security Council to the sides and relevant parties that the leaders of the communities must work with a sense of urgency to resume fully fledged negotiations that will fulfil the hopes of the Cypriot people to reunify Cyprus as a bizonal, bicommunal federation, with political equality, as set out in the relevant Security Council resolutions. We also believe that the mandate makes clear that peacekeeping missions must support political solutions and cannot substitute for an active political process. The United States is disappointed by the lack of progress in the two years since the Conference on Cyprus, but we believe that a settlement remains achievable. The leaders of the communities must demonstrate the political courage and will to transform their words of readiness into action and engage in a United Nations-facilitated process. We know that the ultimate settlement will require more than just the agreement of the leaders of the two communities. Direct contact between the sides does not implicate issues of recognition, but should be encouraged as a way to rebuild trust and improve the public atmosphere to prepare the communities for a future settlement. To that end, we also look forward to renewed progress in supporting women’s participation in the settlement effort. In the 2014 joint declaration, the community leaders described the status quo as unacceptable. We agree and believe that this holds true today. The resolution is the unanimous expression of the Council’s support for the leaders to take the political risks necessary to engage meaningfully and with a sense of urgency. We that hope it spurs political progress that will reunify Cyprus and bring about a sustainable peace for all Cypriots. We also look forward to the Secretary-General’s next report on the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), including his recommendations for how to further encourage the sides and all involved parties to respect UNFICYP’s mandated authority in and delineation of the buffer zone in an effort to defuse tensions.

The Russian Federation supported the adoption of resolution 2483 (2019), on the extension of the mandate of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), in unchanged form. We are convinced that the mission plays a key role in strengthening stability, which is a prerequisite for direct dialogue among the Cypriot communities. We cannot but be concerned that, following the Conference on Cyprus, held in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, there was a “period of reflection”, as noted by the Secretary-General in one of his reports (S/2018/25). However, the United Nations mission should not be used as an instrument to exert political pressure on Cypriots; its purpose is to ensure security and monitor compliance with the buffer zone. With respect to the political settlement, as is known, only the Cypriot communities themselves, through direct dialogue, can reach an agreement on a unified State — a bicommunal, bizonal federation. Given that sensitive matter, external interference, the imposition of any concepts or pressure and the establishment of artificial timelines are absolutely unacceptable. Such an approach in no way helps the painstaking search for compromise solutions. We believe that strengthening the role of the Security Council with regard to international assistance for this process is long overdue. As is well known, one of the most important aspects of a settlement is effective security guarantees for both communities. Clearly, the current system of guarantees, with the participation of three foreign States, objectively does not help the Cypriots to arrive at an independent settlement for themselves. I will be frank — the existing Cypriot system of external security guarantees has become largely anachronistic. The most effective way to ensure the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of a united Cyprus would be guarantees from the Security Council. Ultimately, it is the Council that will have to approve the final agreement reached by the parties. In conclusion, I urge those who may be tempted to draw Cyprus into geopolitical games in an attempt to push out traditional players from the eastern Mediterranean to refrain from doing so. That tactic is fraught with the risk of a dangerous escalation of tensions in that very sensitive region and will certainly do nothing to advance a Cypriot settlement.