The President of the Republic Nikos Anastasiades will be accompanied by the leaders of the parliamentary political parties in the UN-facilitated negotiations in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, Deputy Government Spokesman Victoras Papadopoulos has said.

In statements after today’s meeting of the National Council, Papadopoulos said that President Anastasiades briefed the members of the Council on the latest developments since the previous meeting of the National Council.

He said that during the meeting, the political parties outlined their positions and views to the President ahead of next week’s conference on Cyprus in Switzerland. “At the same time, the parties accepted the President’s invitation to accompany him to Crans-Montana”, he added.

Commenting on a statement made by a political leader, Papadopoulos clarified that the energy programme of the Republic of Cyprus will continue as scheduled and will be executed in full. “Some should be careful when saying things that do not correspond to reality”, he said, stressing that the President has never said that the issue of the energy programme is a matter of the companies.

Asked if President Anastasiadis is positive on the proposal of the three political parties DIKO, EDEK and Allilegii, Papadopoulos said that President Anastasiades received the views of all parties. “Of course he takes into account all views expressed by the parties, and for that reason he invited them to accompany him to Switzerland”, he concluded.

The Conference on Cyprus will reconvene on June 28 at the political level, under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The Conference will take place with the participation of President Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, as well as Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom as guarantor powers, and in the presence of the European Union as an observer.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory. Anastasiades and Akinci have been engaged in UN-led talks since May 2015 with a view to reunite the island under a federal roof.

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