A UN official has said he was worried about the prospects of having a structured peace process for a Cyprus solution, Cypriot media reported on Saturday.

Espen Barth Eide, special adviser of the UN Secretary-General on Cyprus who presides over the negotiations, in an interview with Cyprus News Agency sounded pessimistic for the first time after 22 months of talks during which unprecedented progress had been achieved.

Last month, Turkish Cypriots pulled out of the negotiations aimed at ending the four decades-old division of Cyprus, after the all-Greek Cypriot parliament passed an amendment making it mandatory for teachers to speak in class about a 1950 referendum in which the Greek Cypriot community, which makes up 80 percent of the population, expressed its wish to unite with Greece.

Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci claimed that it showed that the Greek Cypriots were still after union with Greece, a goal that was officially abandoned when Cyprus became independent in 1960.

Eide spoke also for the first time about a lack of trust between the two community leaders, who have up to now managed to tackle difficult issues underlying the Cyprus problem.

"Trust is also needed and I am convinced that if it does not exist in the leadership level it is difficult to substitute it somewhere else," Cyprus News Agency quoted Eide as saying.

"I think if people believe in a solution in Cyprus this is the moment to speak up in favor of it, because frankly I am worried that things are not going as well as they used to do a few months ago," he added.

He said time is running out and the issue of the negotiations should not be left only to the two leaders.
 
source: Xinhua