“The EU wishes to have a presence and an active role in the UN Secretary-General’s initiative on the Cyprus issue at all stages,” government sources said following the meeting between the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, and the President of the European Council, António Costa, on Thursday afternoon in Brussels, directly linking progress on EU–Turkey issues with parallel developments on the Cyprus issue. On its part, a European source told CNA that President Costa made it clear that there are other factors in the equation as well, noting that Turkey is a candidate country for accession and that, because of this, more criteria are taken into consideration, such as the rule of law and the economy.