Mitsotakis at the UN General Assembly: Cyprus is a “litmus test” for the UN’s credibility

In his address at the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis described the Cyprus issue as a “litmus test” for the UN’s credibility, portraying it as an “open wound” in the eastern Mediterranean.

Mitsotakis stressed that 52 years have passed since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, which he described as illegal, and that the continued occupation of the island constitutes a violation of international law. He expressed Greece’s full support for the efforts of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to create conditions for resuming substantive talks, in the hope that progress will be achieved before the end of Guterres’s second term in December.

Athens’s stated objective remains the reunification of Cyprus, without the presence of occupying troops, in line with UN Security Council resolutions.

Speaking about the war in Ukraine, the Greek prime minister said the conflict has entered its fifth year and that Russian aggression has brought war back to European soil. He underlined that Greece stands with the Ukrainian people and called for diplomacy toward an immediate ceasefire and a lasting peace based on the UN Charter. According to him, Ukraine must have the decisive say over its future, while Europe must be included in the talks.

Mitsotakis also described the situation in Sudan as a “staggering humanitarian catastrophe”.

Source: Cyprus Inform