U.N. SECRETARY-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday informed the Security Council he intended to appoint Australian former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer as his new special envoy for Cyprus.
The announcement in New York put an end to weeks of speculation after Downer pre-empted the UN by telling the press in Australia weeks ago he would be the new Cyprus envoy. Downer officially resigns from Australian politics on Monday.
“The Secretary-General has informed the Security Council of his intention to appoint Alexander Downer, the former Foreign Minister of Australia, as his Special Adviser on Cyprus,” a UN announcement said last night.
“The Secretary-General noted that, in Resolution 1818 earlier this year, the Security Council had welcomed his intention to appoint a Special Adviser on Cyprus at the appropriate time. The Security Council’s response to his letter is being awaited.”
The UN also confirmed yesterday that Ban would be meeting President Demetris Christofias in Paris tomorrow and with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat in Berlin on Tuesday.
The UN has been waiting for a sign that direct negotiations would be starting between the two sides shortly. The two leaders are due to meet on July 25 to review whether to start talks or not in September.
Downer is expected to attend the meeting, even though it is not yet sure whether both sides will accept his appointment. Until they are officially informed by the UN that the Secretary General wants Downer, they will not give their opinion of the veteran politician who has a rather chequered background in terms of his diplomatic skills.
There is also the perception that Downer is Washington’s man, given his unwavering support for the Bush administration’s Iraq policies.
Although the Greek Cypriot side – and also the Turkish Cypriot side it is believed – are not keen on Downer, they may not oppose it.
Ever since Downer spilled the beans, both sides have remained publicly silent about him although they have let it be known in private circles that he is not their ideal choice.
Rumours during the week that Christofias would ask Ban not to appoint Downer when he meets the Secretary General, are nonsense, according to sources close to the talks process.
“That would be a rather clumsy way for President Christofias to handle a sensitive matter,” said one Greek Cypriot source. “Sometimes silence speaks louder than words”.
Silence could also be taken for assent, according to another source.
It is believed the Greek Cypriot side would have preferred someone closer to home such as an EU diplomat. “Something that has never happened,” said the first source referring to previous envoys who included a Latin American, a Canadian and a South Korean.
The Greek Cypriot side views Downer as somewhat obstinate and worries about the cultural differences when it comes to the Australian’s handling of the well-known sensitivities of the Cyprus issue.
The fact that Downer let it be known well-before the UN made it official, also didn’t go down very well on the Greek Cypriot side.
However despite this, the indications are that Downer will probably receive a grudging approval from the sides.
“When you reject someone you have to sure about who the next one might be,” said the second source.
“The Greek Cypriot side, instead of sending a message of rejection, prefers to send the message that the achieving of a solution is in the hands of the two communities. What they want to avoid is the imposition of a solution because the results of arbitration in the recent past proved to be traumatic.”
However despite the fact that in new negotiations Downer might very well find himself in a supporting, rather than ‘interfering’ role, his reputation precedes him.
Peter Galbraith, the former US diplomat and author of books on foreign policy issues was quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday as saying: “He won’t do any damage in his job as the Cyprus negotiator…because one thing’s for sure: if there were any serious chance of making progress between the Greeks and Turks on Cyprus, the UN would not have appointed Downer.”
