Awwal 29, 1432 H/March 4, 2011, SPA -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is concerned at the slow pace of Cyprus reunification talks and warns they cannot drag on indefinitely, as Reuters repotred. In a report to the U.N. Security Council, Ban said there was a risk talks on the ethnically split island could lose momentum ahead of elections in both Turkey and Cyprus this year. The conflict in Cyprus, whose Greek territory joined the EU in 2004, represents a major stumbling block in Turkey's own efforts to join the bloc. Ban said he was willing to meet the two sides but only to hear how they would resolve remaining differences. "The moment has come to confront hard choices," Ban said. "The negotiations cannot be an open-ended process, nor can we afford interminable talks for the sake of talks."
