Current Events

The coronavirus pandemic has wrecked havoc over the travel industry worldwide, and Cyprus, of course, is no exception to this. The island nation, which had seen a substantial increase in tourist arrivals last January, has in this one seen a dip in numbers like no other.

In January 2021, Cyprus had all of 3,889 tourist arrivals – a far cry from the 85,622 tourist arrivals in the same time last year.

The data, which has been published by the Cyprus statistical service (Cystat) further, showed that the return rate has similarly gone down – from 134,507 in January 2020 to only 13,307 in January 2021. This is only 10% of the total number of returns in 2020.

Most of the arrivals in January 2021 were from neighboring country Greece at a whopping 48.4%, followed by Germany at 8.8%.

As for returnees, most of them came back from Russia, Greece and the United Kingdom.

The information quoted for January 2021 was derived from the processing of the data of the “Cyprus Flight Pass” – an electronic platform where all passengers traveling to and/or from Cyprus must disclose their travel-related data in. Data includes the which all passengers aiming to travel to Cyprus must submit with information in relation to their flight, their country of residence, the purpose of their visit, as well as other demographic characteristics.

Popular international private bank EFG International is tackling the Brexit issue by expanding overseas.

As part of its latest move, the financial institution will be expanding further in Cyprus.

Though the Zurich-based bank has already conducted business in the island nation for over 6 years. However, it will now be expanding its licenses to capitalize on growth in the country.

A statement issued by the bank itself says that they will establish 2 new subsidiaries before the middle of February, namely the EFG Private Bank (UK) Limited and the EFG Cyprus Limited. Both subsidiaries will be located in Nicosia. Additionally, another office will be opened in Limassol in the months to follow.

The Cyprus subsidiary shall be managed via the EFG office in London, UK. Demetris Pisiaras, an EFG banker in the region with over 20 years of experience will be heading all operations in Cyprus.

The results of a brand new study has revealed that more than 17,000 birds spend the winter season in the wetlands of Cyprus.

The study, conducted by the game and wildlife service and BirdLife Cyprus surveyed over 50 different locations on the island nation, and went on to record around 17,000 migratory waterbirds from 68 species.

The most recorded of these was the flamingo, which made up for around 8,000 birds. This was followed by the common teal, which are around 2,200 in number.

Area-wise, the largest number of waterbirds were found in the Larnaca salt lake, which had over 11,000 birds across 30 species. This was followed by the Akrotiri peninsula salt lakes (with a total of 2,700 birds), the Oroklini lake (with a total of 1,100 birds) and finally the Paralimni lake (with under 900).

The study and survey was conducted in honor of the World Wetlands Day, which is celebrated on the 2^nd of February every year.

Telecommunications company Cyta has announced the launch of its first ever 5G network service in Cyprus.

The company, which is working in collaboration with Vodafone claims that the joint venture will serve to mark a new beginning for an era of superior technological innovations.

According to a live social media presentation by Cyta’s CEO Andreas Neokleous, the service will provide high speeds of up to 1Gbps, along with better connectivity when the same network is connected to multiple devices.

He claims, however, that these improvements will only be the beginning of what is yet to come. The company plans to use the 5G technology to create innovations in several sectors including (but not limited to) agriculture, health, transport, education, and environment.

The combined Cytamobile-Vodafone 5G network currently has a coverage range of 70 per cent. The plan for them is to reach at least 98 per cent within the next 12 months.

All those currently subscribing to Cytamobile-Vodafone – be they companies or individual subscribers, shall get 5G access without any extra charge. All that is needed is a Cyta-certified 5G device that must stay within the coverage area.

Cyprus and the UAE have signed their first ever agreement.

The signing comes as a part of Cyprus’ initiative to strengthen relations with its neighboring countries, especially those that are in the Middle East.

The island nation has already done much in this regard, having signed other similar military agreements with Jordan, Egypt, and Israel. The armed forces of these countries today are known to hold joint exercises. In addition to these, Cyprus is also in the process of training the Lebanese army.

According to a statement issued by the Defense Ministry of Cyprus, the Cyprus-UAE agreement will include joint training exercises, cooperative military maneuvers, and discussions on expanding the same.

The two countries’ military forces had previously interacted in the multi-nation joint activity called Medusa.

In response to the rising number of COVID-19 cases, the government of Cyprus has imposed a new lockdown in hopes of curbing the spread of the disease.

In a statement to the press, Constantinos Ioannou, the Health Minister announced that the restrictions, which start on the 31^st of January, will stay in effect for a minimum of 3 weeks.

Under these rules, people can go out of their homes for a maximum of 2 times a day for exercise or essential activities. People can only avail the approval through a mobile text messaging system.

All non-essential business will remain shut for the duration of the lockdown. This includes cinemas, salons, gyms, museums, theatres and other places of interest.

Unlike the previous lockdown, however, ports and airports shall remain open.

A rare piece of art that was until recently considered lost has been discovered.

The art in question is a highly rare relief made out of concrete created by Christoforos Savva, known for being one of Europe’s greatest artists during the 1960s. It used to be up on the wall of the now-defunct Perroquet nightclub located in the abandoned town of Varosha. Varosha now lies in the Turkish side of a divided Cyprus.

Credits to the resurfacing goes to a 93-year-old Greek Cypriot man who commissioned them and wants them to be transferred to their right owners.

The artwork has been discovered after more than 50 years of staying under the radar.

Over  114 different persons, including one business owner were booked on grounds of violating COVID lockdown regulations.

According to a statement made by a spokesperson for the police, the bookings come after the police force carried out a massive 8,000-person search who appeared to not follow the exact rules of the lockdown.

Of course, those carrying out emergency and essential services, and having a genuine reason for being out of home were exempted. The rest were all booked for violation.

Incidentally, many of these were found to be looking to access nature trails, which is currently prohibited by the government.

The prohibition comes after a decree signed by the government after several people were observed crowding the Troodos square.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) has taken a stand and spoken against the extended term of the UN Peacekeeping force in the island nation.

In a statement to the press and the public, the Foreign Ministry of the TRNC expressed their disapproval of the extension, explaining how their consent was once again not sought by the international organization.

They further added that the mandate approving the extension itself had several loop holes in it. For starters, it ignored the UN’s basic principles as regards the peacekeeping operations and has several other legal inefficiencies.

Furthermore, when they did make a request, the UN went on to disregard them entirely.

Finally, the TRNC iterated that despite the issues, they will continue to rally to be recognized as a valid political entity.

The peacekeeping force’s stay in Cyprus has been extended till July, 2021.

The island nation was struck by a 5.0 magnitude earthquake in the afternoon hours.

While no substantial damages, deaths or injuries have been reported thus far, the incident did cause mass confusion and left hundreds scurrying from their homes.

According to a statement by the Cyprus Geological Survey, the earthquake happened at 4:27 p.m. in the afternoon, with an epicenter depth of 55 kilometres.

Tremors were felt over a large area, including the countries of Turkey, Lebanon, Israel and Syria.

Shocking as it was, the incident was not all that out of the ordinary, gives as the country is located in what is an active seismic zone, known to be responsible for over 15% of the earthquakes worldwide.

The last major quake seen by the island nation. It was 6.8 in magnitude, and occurred in 1996. It was touted as the biggest on the island in over 120 years.

The Cypriot police fined a 25-year-old gentleman with €2,000 for avoiding stopping for a Game Service check.

The man, who is from Paphos, was see driving a car in Ezousa, after which he was flagged by patrolling game wardens.

Despite the flag, the man failed to stop and continued to flee the area. The wardens were not fazed, however, as they had already taken down his license plate number and forwarded all necessary information to the police.

The police then successfully located the man, and promptly charged him with the fine.

In his defense, the man explained that he ran away out of abject fear. He then paid off the entire €2,000 fine.

President Nicos Anastasiades of Greek Cyprus has expressed his readiness to resume talks of Cyprus settlement.

He did so by receiving the invite to the UN Secretary General’s special envoy Jane Holl Lute. He also informed her that Greek Cyprus will be ready to utilize the opportunity to come to a conclusion.

Ms Lute and the envoy had arrived in Cyprus a few weeks prior to make preparations for a five-pronged informal meeting.

Participants of the meeting will include Turkey, UK and Greece. All the three nations are guarantors of the island nation’s security, integrity and independence.

The results of a study by Alexander College has revealed that over 24% of young Cyrpiots have internet addiction, while approximately 8% undergo social media addiction.

The study was carried out behind closed doors as a pancyprian survey with the support of the Cyprus Addiction Treatment Authority (CETA). Besides Alexander College and the CETA, the survey was handled the Hellenic Bank and the Youth Board.

The sample for the survey had a total of 1,059 individuals between the ages of 15 and 35. 465 of these were full-time students, 437 were men and 622 were women.

The study also revealed a correlation between the over-reliance on technology and the lack of social skills, a lesser attention span and lessened ability to remember information.

The island nation’s cabinet has approved the bill to ban the circulation and sale of of any type of disposable carrier bags made with thin plastic.

The new regulation shall apply on every usage point, including that of home and office deliveries.

Costas Kadis, the minister of Agriculture and the chief architect of the amendment, released his statement on the matter. The statement explained how the ban, though sudden, will help both citizens and visitors be more self-aware of their environmental footprint, which in turn will help benefit the future generations greatly.

The official cabinet announcement affirmed Minister Kadis’ statement, explaining how the approval is yet another step towards lessening the damaging impact plastic bags have upon the environment and the quality of lives of people in general.

The decision comes over 2.5 years after levying a charge on the use of said bags. In fact, it was part of the reason why this amendment was proposed in the first place. According to reports, the introduction of the charging system alone reduced thin plastic carrier bag usage by over 80%.

Nicos Anastasiades has failed to garner the a yes from lawmakers for this new 2021 budget.

It is being speculated that the rejection was made in the background of the fallout over the flawed investment-based citizenship program.

While 24 lawmakers did approve the budget, a vote of disapproval by 29 others meant that the budget would have to be thrown out.

Notably, the development has not been all that surprising, given as the Disy party, i.e. Anastasiades’s ruling party does not currently hold a majority in the Cypriot parliament.

In the latest incident, a residence in Nicosia was burgled, where the thieves in question broke in and took off with a safe containing jewelry and cash.

The break-in, which happened between the hours of 10:30am and 1:45pm, led to the theft of money and items worth a total of €150,000.

Nicosia’s Criminal Investigative Department are currently investigating into the matter.

The island nation of Cyprus will be lifting its travel ban on 56 different countries.

Many of these countries belong to the European Union and the European Economic Area in general.

The Cypriot government has also released new protocols and freshly divided arrivals from foreign countries into green, grey red and orange.

Both the ban lift and re-arrangement of protocols, which has been set according to the standards of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), will come into effect on the 15^th of January, 2021.

The island nation has reviewed its level of cooperation with India in a bid to improve their bilateral relations.

According to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (IMEA), various fields were discussed in this process. This included culture, consolatory, economics and of course, politics.

This was the fifth round of Foreign Office Consultations between the two countries.

Held on December 10,2020 on a virtual basis, the meeting was chaired by Thessalia Salina Shambos, the political director of the Cypriot Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Neeta Bhushan, Indian Joint Secretary of Central Europe.

Appreciating their already cordial relations, the two went on to review the various terms of their cooperation in order to make substantial improvements where possible.

According to the MEA’s statement, both the Cypriot and Indian sides reviewed the MoUs and agreements.

Other than the above-mentioned topics, issues such as sports, defense, military and the arts were discussed. Culture-specific topics, such as Ayurveda was also discussed.

Last but not the least, they discussed pertinent political matters that affect both nations – including the Indo-Pak conflict, the Northern Cyuprus issue, and EU-India relations.

The Cyprus road transport department has announced that the renewals shall begin on the 7^th of January. The last date for said renewals will be March 11, 2021. Any renewals made after that will carry a surcharge.

Road tax renewals can be made for 3,6,9 or 12 months. All vehicles in said renewals are required to have insurance and an MOT.

In their announcement, the department encouraged vehicle owners to renew their road taxes in due course, and not wait till the last hour. They explained how such a callous behavior leads to a lot of inconvenience as the system gets overloaded.

They further added rgar those vehicle owners who had opted for renewals in 2020, but will not in 2021 are required to notify the department of such. They must complete form TOM12B and inform the government of their intent. Not doing so lead to surcharges and outstanding fees.

Vehicles left unrenewed in 2020 that have as of yet remained avoided being officially declared as immobilized will be taken of the registry. The only way to prevent this is for the owner to renew their road tax and pay off the outstanding fees before the March 11, 2021.

Finally, the department said that they will not be individually notifying owners to renew their road tax.

Vaccinations to prevent the virus from proliferating will be starting on Sunday, the 27^th of December.

According to an announcement by Olga Kalakouta, a senior health official, the first batch of Pfizer vaccine will arrive in Cyprus. She further explained that the vaccinations will take place through dedicated vaccination centers.

The goal of the health department is to carry out the vaccinations through all districts at the same time. The first to be vaccinated will be the health workers.

As of now, the consent forms have been sent to all the centers. Owners will be required to ask their staff for consenting to the vaccination. They will also be required to inform the ministry on the number of vaccines they need for their employees.

While Ms. Kalakouta has no knowledge of who will be the first person to receive the vaccine, reports suggest it may be the President Nicos Anastasiades. Moreover, his vaccination will be streamed live and filmed.