Current Events

Nikos Christodoulides, the President of Cyprus recently announced that Cyprus is gearing up to the join the countries within the Schengen Zone – which he assumes will be complete by 2026.

The leader of the island nation made this announcement at an event in Nicosia, where he explained that this is not simply a wish, but a goal they are actively working towards so that they can meet every requirement as soon as possible.

Entering the Schengen Zone shall be very beneficial for Cypriots – it will allow more seamless travel, encountering lesser border issues and be more in line with pan-European operations.

Overall, this move would be very beneficial for the island nation in terms of both polity and economy.

In his speech, President Christodoulides also explained why this will also be beneficial for the EU at large – something that he plans to explain as he makes his tour of the European Union capitals.

To further its goal, Cyprus is also dependent heavily on European organizations. Christodoulides mentioned how he feels encouraged through the things he’s heard from Brussels, as well as the European Parliament’s President.

He went on to remind the reporters that the move is not new – and that this was one of the biggest promises he made while campaigning for President, and one he intends to fully deliver during his term.

https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cyprus-will-join-schengen-in-2026-says-president

The President of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides and the President of the UAE His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan discussed several topics related to strengthening ties between the two nations over the phone.

The leaders exchanged their greetings, and proceeded to brainstorm and discuss ways to potentially fortify the bilateral relations between the two nations – specifically in context of economy and development.

President Christodoulides took the opportunity to express their gratitude to the UAE for providing the island nation with portable desalination plants so that they can deal with their water shortage issues in time.

Cyprus has been well on its mission to create such plants to prevent major water shortage, and supply an adequate amount of potable water.

Other topics of local and international important involving the countries were also discussed, and opinions on pertinent issues were shared.

https://www.arnnewscentre.ae/en/news/uae/uae-cyprus-presidents-discuss-boosting-ties-in-phone-call/

Indian Tech MNC LTIMindtree has chosen Cyprus as the destination for its latest office.

The company, which has its headquarters in Mumbai is opening its ‘Digital Innovation Hub’ in the island nation – to be able to work better with its clients there as well as the EU at large.

Specifically, the hub will be situated in CYENS Center of Excellence in Nicosia’s Research and Innovation Hub. Its main purpose will be to improve the ability to offer technological and digital solutions to their clients.

Right now, LTIMindtree’s top clients in the area includes Eurobank- (which operates over six hundred branches alone in Cyprus, along with several others in the UK, Luxembourg, Bulgaria and Greece. Their other biggest client is Canadian investment and insurance company, Fairfax – which also maintains several offices in the region.

Srini Rao, President & CBO Europe of LTIMindtree hailed the step as a major step – elaborating how the Digital Innovation hub will function as a major force behind driving faster, better and more sustainable business growth.

LTIMindtree is a Multinational Corporation which employs over eighty-four thousand people across forty different countries. It is a part of Larsen & Toubro, another MNC.

https://www.consultancy.eu/news/11847/ltimindtree-launches-digital-innovation-hub-in-cyprus

Cyprus’ flagship airliner Cyprus Airways has chosen to use AirGain to gather real time insights on competitive pricing, so that they can serve their customers better.

Powered by RateGain, AirGain offers strategic intelligence to its customers on pricing and allows customers to adjust their prices and offerings accordingly.

This is a strategic partnership between the two companies, driven by Cyprus Airways’ dedication to providing the best quality and most affordable flights for its customers all over Europe as well as the Middle East.

Thanks to AirGain, the airliner will have real time access to pricing data of over three hundred airline services, as well as over fifty premier Online Traveling Agencies. This will allow Cyprus Airways to adjust their own strategies, offer timely promotions, maximize their profits as well as customer satisfaction – thus being able to maintain leadership in the aviation market.

https://www.business-standard.com/markets/capital-market-news/cyprus-airways-selects-airgain-for-competitive-pricing-intelligence-125050800416_1.html

The Deputy Ministry of Migration and International Protection’s Asylum Service received over 767 applications for asylum, as opposed to over 3,660 departures.

Both figures were recorded over the period of three months from January to March, 2025.

Specifically, 256, 232 and 279 applications were submitted in January, February and March respectively.

Meanwhile, departures in question included voluntary and involuntary returns of people, as well as deportations. They were done with the joint efforts of the Cyprus Police’s Aliens Immigrant Department and the Deputy Ministry of Migration.

The Hellenic Bank and the Bank of Cyprus are going ahead with making good on their agreements that were made with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides.

Mr. Panicos Nicolaou & Mr. Michalis Louis, Chief Executive Officers of the two banks have agreed to have new ATM units installed in relatively far-off areas, where cash machine access is limited.

The two banks are installing the JCC Payments ATMs together (since they’re both shareholders in the JCC).

The tentative locations for the ATMs are Xylotymbou, Pelendri, Astromeritis, Salamiou, Avgorou, Parekklisia, Lythrodontas, Argaka, Pissouri, Frenaros, and Eptagonia.

The locations are tentative, as the project is still in progress and the management might adjust the venues to help as many people as possible.

Installing and maintaining an ATM in a remote place costs over €50,000 every day.

Cyprus Police has confirmed that the man killed in the Limassol collision was a Pakistani national.

The man, Yasir Shah, aged 34, was on duty and delivering food on his electric bike when he was hit by a car driver.

He was taken to the hospital, but was ultimately pronounced dead.

The driver of the car, aged 38, was arrested and placed under police custody.

The driver was administered alcohol and drug tests – he tested negative in the first one and positive in the second one.

So far, he has claimed that he was not at fault – and the man on his electric bike had abruptly come in his way.

Cyprus has re-opened their digital nomad visa scheme after over a year of pausing it.

First launched in October 2021, the scheme allowed only a hundred applications. This was increased to 500 in March 2022.

The program was paused around the start of 2024, so that the government could make improvements to the system after the 500 visa quota was fulfilled.

The digital nomad visa is available to all non-EEA and non-EU nationals currently working for a non-Cyprus-based employer. Applicants must earn at least €3,500 per month post-taxes.

The permit’s validity lasts for a year – visa holders may apply for the two-year long extension after this.

Furthermore, applicants are allowed to enter the country on a tourist visa and have their digital nomad applications approved within three months.

A tourist from the UK was kept in police custody for over 6 days after a major traffic accident that killed a man.

The accident happened as the UK tourist’s vehicle collided with another man riding his motorcycle, which led to the death of the other driver -a former British Bases firefighter.

The accident happened as the UK tourist drove his car into the Grigoris Afxentiou Avenue’s right lane – moving from Oroklini to Dhekelia. His car collided with the oncoming motorcycle, which was being ridden by Oroklini local resident Petros Christodoulou.

Christodoulou, 57, sustained major injuries in the crash and was rendered immobile. He was taken to Larnaca General Hospital, where he ultimately succumbed to his injuries.

The UK national, aged 46, is currently facing Death by Negligence charges as well as Negligent Driving.

The driver was made to take drug and alcohol tests – both tested negative.

Further investigation by the Larnaca Traffic Police is currently underway.

The drilling of the Electra field in Cyprus’ EEZ’s Block 5 has been postponed by a week on account of geological pressures on the drill rig.

According to George Papanastasiou, the Energy Minister of Cyprus said that the drilling, which was carried out by ExxonMobil-Qatar Energy, was delayed due to the pressures, which needed additional reinforcement to balance out.

Papanastasiou explained that the delayed time will be used to add extra well casing so that the drill can handle the pressures.

Until this point, the drilling operation has reached 6,800 meters of depth from the ocean’s surface thus far – out of the planned 7,500 meters depth.

Right now, the drill moves at the speed of 20 mph and covers over 200 meters every day.

Paphos Hoteliers Association Director Evripides Loizides has said that the number of tourist bookings for the year are set to stay steady, despite the seasonal tourism drop.

Loizides said that people are no longer booking according to the seasonal tourism schedule, which will soon become obsolete.

Hotel pre-bookings made between November 2024 and January 2025 saw a seven to ten percent uptick for the summer season. Starting February, the pre-bookings stalled all over the island, Paphos being the only exception as it saw a minor increase.

Cyprus gets the major share of its income from tourism, which in turn earns from visitors from other European countries such as France, Germany, Poland, UK and Greece, as well as Israel.

However, while the total number of bookings have not dipped much, the duration of the holidays have gone down from ten days to a seven average.

The good news here is that the tourists are no longer limiting themselves to the summer months – seeing as over ten thousand beds had been booked between late 2024 and early 2025.

UAE’s Minister of Foreign Affairs & Deputy Prime Minister His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan met with Dr. Constantinos Kombos and Jeyhun Bayramov, the foreign ministers of Cyprus and Azerbaijan respectively, in Abu Dhabi.

The leaders discussed potential routes of further cooperation across different fields, such as investment, development, and economy.

Sheikh Abdullah talked about the Azerbaijan-Armenia bilateral peace treaty. He also discussed furthering bilateral relations with Cyprus.

They made an assessment of the situation in the Middle East and Mediterranean at large, and talked about several other matter of local and international interest.

Mansur Yavas, the Mayor of Ankara has expressed his tribute on social media platform X (formerly, Twitter) by calling Konak the “son of the north.”

Yavas further added how Konak’s “powerful” and songs were influential to many – and that his contributions went beyond being an artist and was in fact the “voice, heart and friend” of the land.

No moments were spared after him collapsing – paramedics rushed to the scene and gave him first aid. They then promptly moved him to Famagusta State Hospital. He was declared dead less than an hour later.

The hospital broke the news by releasing a statement announcing Konak’s death. They mentioned how their emergency team performed CPR on him for over forty minutes and then intubated and transferred him to the hospital. Admitted as an “ex-enrollment,” he was once again taken to for CPR, where a medical team consisting of specialized doctors worked on it. They were unsuccessful in the efforts, after which Konak was declared deceased.

The Bank of Cyprus has announced that it shall release the 2025 first quarter results in May.

The results will be announced prior to trade day opening on the Cyprus Stock Exchange and the Athens Exchange.

One of the aims of announcing the information is to allow investors and other major stakeholders to get vital insight into how the bank has performed financially from January to March in 2025.

The Bank of Cyprus further announced that it has re-purchased over twenty-hundred-and-twenty-seven thousand shares via the Athens and the Cyprus stock exchanges. This happened during a single week from the 17th to the 24th of April 17-24 – as a part of its 30 million Euro buyback initiative.

The cost of share varied between 5.40 Euros to 5.58 Euros per share – and all shares were set to be cancelled out after repurchase.

The bank has also levied a 0.25% point cut to its reference lending rate – after a similar reduction made by the European Central Bank (ECB). Since 23rd April, 2025, the rate has dropped from 2.65% to 2.40%.

Overall, this has made repaying easier for over twelve thousand grateful borrowers.

After several days of turbulence, Cyprus is finally expected to experience some good weather conditions

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The island nation’s next few days are expected to be good – with a small chance of some clouds higher up in the sky

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The wind is expected to be slight and enjoyable at around 3 on the Beaufort scale, slowly moving up to around 4 while going from southwesterly towards northwesterly

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The seas are expected to be slight and smooth. Temperatures are expected to go up to 13°C in the mountains, 23°C in the central areas, and around 21°C in the coastal area

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Some dust is expected to prevail in the air

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A minor earthquake has occurred in Cyprus, leaving people worried and in a state of panic

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The earthquake of 3.2-magnitude struck the island nation in the early hours of the morning, causing various people on the island to experience sudden shaking

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This was largely felt in and around Limassol

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Several residents reported further minor aftershocks, but no one reported damages or injuries thus far

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The local authorities confirmed the incident, and are on the lookout for more potential aftershocks or earthquakes

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Over five thousand people participated in the OPAP Marathon in Limassol

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The marathon started in Epichosis, proceeded towards the western direction near the coast towards Franklin Roosevelt Street, passed via the roundabout at New Port and crossed the parallel road to once again pass via the roundabout of ‘Lady’s Mile

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The marathon path continued through the road ahead of the shopping center called ‘My Mall’, passed through the roundabout at Franklin Roosevelt, went in the western direction again towards Asomatos village

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It then took a turn at the junction near the Water Park entrance, went along the road on the coast towards the traffic lights at the Ayioi Saranda Street-Amathus Avenue intersection next to the Elias Hotel

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A final turn led the course to Epichosis to finish

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Drivers have been urged to stay careful, exercise caution, adhere to special road restrictions, and generally comply with the police

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The police are currently investigating a theft at a kiosk in Larnaca

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Two people wearing masks conducted a robbery at the kiosk – they took what is best described as a “lot” of cash from the register and proceeded to run away from the scene unstopped

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The theft occurred in the late hours of the evening

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The suspects could not be identified distinctly, but it is believed that they are two men. They are currently at large

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The Cyprus police has announced that they will be implementing new traffic & security measures in light of the Cypriot National Day celebrations

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Restrictions on parking shall be there in place from 12 AM from the day before in high-traffic areas of Nicosia. This includes Vyronos Avenue, the Feneromeni Church, and Konstantinos Palaiologos Avenue

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Traffic restrictions will come into place on the celebration day in all of these locations, along with Omirou Avenue, and more roads adjacent to these will be closed later in the day

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Special areas have been demarcated for parking. This includes the municipal trench, the fire station area, the opening at Kolokasi and the Davilla area

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The public buses coming from Engomi, Strovolos, Lakatamia, and nearby districts will be dropping off their passengers in Solomos Square. Buses from Aglantzia and Pallouriotissa will drop passengers on Stasinou Avenue near Kaningos Bridge

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The police are urging the public to follow the rules set in place, and to not use any drones

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The Cyprus reunification issue has been a major topic for the divided island nation

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To that end, the leaders of the divisions, Nikos Christodoulides of Greek Cyprus and Ersin Tatar of Turkish Cyprus shall meet with each other

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This shall be their second meeting, right after the one that occurred in Geneva

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According to President Christodoulides, it was Greek Cyprus that proposed the idea of the meeting to their Turkish counterparts – with the United Nations as the mediating party

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According to many sources, the meeting shall be held at the home of Colin Stewart, The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General

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The meeting was announced by Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations – right at the end of the informal meeting in Geneva. Guterres also mentioned that a new personal envoy shall be appointed for Cyprus to help take some mediating measures, such as opening some crossing points, creating youth-focused committees, among others

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