Current Events

The novel coronavirus has caused many delays, and Cyprus is now on its way to make up for these delays.

One of these developments comes in the form of the island nation fast-tracking the issuing of building and planning permits.

The new plan, which will go into effect from October 2020, will have the waiting time slashed to around 20 days – right from the previous average of 14 to 18 months.

Nicos Nouris , Cyprus’ Interior Minister who announced the news, revealed thanks to the new fast-track process, the time used to process applications for building and planning will be greatly reduced, which will help expedite construction work on the island nation.

The Interior Minister acknowledged how the current system, though otherwise efficient, would be a hindrance in the potentially post-pandemic situation, when workload will be more and several projects will be put on hold.

Currently, most applications are about general homes, and have been submitted by civilians. These make up for over 62% of the total number of permits.

The fast-tracking applies to all of the planning department’s district offices, along with the island nation’s major municipalities – Larnaca, Limassol, and Nicosia.

For now, however, Nouris explained that applications can only be submitted online and only to the District Offices of Urban Planning.

Submission to the major municipality offices is yet to be ready.

In a new step towards military cooperation between the Mediterranean and Northern Europe, Cypriot defense minister Charalambos Petrides has revealed that Cyprus has been considering buying more weapons from France.

In a statement to the press, Minister Petrides emphasized on how different systems and weapons were being assessed by the Cypriot military. He further added how the scenario of this potential purchase falls under the larger spectrum of improving upon the military bilateral relations between the Cypriot and French forces.

Said improvement in military cooperation was originally announced by Cyprus’ President Nicos Anastasiades on his Paris visit. Minister Petrides had accompanied president Anastasiades on the visit, where he was in a closed-door meeting his French defense minister Florence Party.

Many topics have said to been discussed in this meeting – including Turkey’s aggressive tactics, and of course a general cooperation between Cyprus and France.

In view of recent developments as regards the novel coronavirus, the government of Cyprus has made several changes to its ‘safe list’ countries for travel.

The first remarkable step is removing Algeria and Bulgaria, after a recent surge in COVID-19 cases in both countries. The countries in question have reported over 200 cases in the last week, which has led to the revision of their travel safety status.

On the other hand, the United Kingdom has been brought in to the safe list – after a consistent and marked decline in the number of new coronavirus infection cases. The country currently lies in category B, which implies that travelers from the UK entering the island nation will have to show a negative COVID-19 test to gain entry into the island nation. Quarantine will not be necessary.

In the meantime, Georgia has been upgraded from category B to A, with incoming travelers from the country no longer needing negative tests or quarantines.

The safe list systems works by placing various countries in one of 3 categories – A, B, or C, depending on their current epidemiological situation.

Countries on the A-list need are the safest, and need not show a negative COVID-19 test or undergo quarantine. Those on the B-list need not quarantine, but must show a negative test result. Those in category C, will have to show a negative test and undergo mandatory 14-day quarantine.

In what is considered bad news for military arrangement and coordination in the Mediterranean, the United States’ Washington has expressed being troubled by Turkey’s maritime developments.

The latest of these developments has Barbaros, a Turkish research vessel sailing off of the coast of Cyprus – soon after Ankara issuing a navigational telex that reserved parts of the island nation’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The vessel, called the Barbaros, which left Tasucu port in Turkey, was first seen off Famagusta’s coast at 6 in the morning (local time). The vessel, which followed the Navtex, reserved blocks 2, 3, and partially, 13. All these blocks fall with Cyprus’ EEZ.

This provocative development has come after Ankara’s earlier decision to put its seismic research plans on hold in the off of Kastellorizo in Greece till the talks with Athens is complete.

To cushion the devastating economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic, Cyprus has announced a massive support package worth €150 million.

The package, which was announced by Labor Minister Zeta Emilianidou and Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides, will be offering over €3 billion to support businesses and workers for the next 4 months.

The numbers of beneficiaries for the plans are slated to reach at least 50,000.

The biggest plan in the package is made for hotels and tourism-related establishments, and other entities that have been subjected to mandatory suspension of operations. There are other schemes as well, however – ones those unemployed professionals, as well as businesses which have lost at least 40% of their annual turnover.

The monthly cost for the plans is slated to be between €35 to €40 million. This, is not, however, a strict figure, as the turnover depends on the actual amount of reduction.

To check migration, the Cypriot government has launched a “blitz” SMS campaign to keep incoming migration to the island nation in check.

The campaign, which comes after dispelling the notion of the island nation becoming a “gateway” to the European Union for migrants, was announced by the country’s Interior Minister Nicos Nouris.

According to a report by the Associated Press, the campaign is meant to filter migrants who are tricked by migrants to believing that they would get EU access once Cyprus grants them political asylum.

The reality, however, is far from this – Nouris explained that migrants who arrive to Cyprus are, in reality, in a worse position by entering Cyprus. This is because while the island nation is part of the European Union, it is not a part of the Schengen area. The EU is meant more for political mobility, whereas it is Schengen which allows frictionless borders and the lack of internal controls.

The Cypriot cabinet is slated to undergo a major reshuffle.

The first to be reappointed was the former Justice Minister George Savvides, who will now serve as the attorney general.

He was followed by Defense Minister Savvas Angelides, who will be serving as the deputy attorney general.

The third to join the list is George Lakkotrypis, who will be standing down from his position as Energy Minister.

The reshuffling comes after the pending expiration of Costas Clerides’ term as attorney general.

While Savvides and Angelides will be sworn-in on 10 July, their successors have not been identifies as of yet. While former Justice Minister Ionas Nicolaou was offered the position, he turned it down after members of the opposition party objection to his suitability.

In an announcement to the public, Agriculture Minister Costas Kadis has announced the results of a major European study that reveals Cyprus to have the cleanest bathing waters in all of Europe.

The study, which was conducted by the European Environment Agency, has put Cyprus in the first place, accounting for the island nation to have over 99.1% clean, excellent-quality bathing waters.

Cyprus’ position was followed by Austria, Malta, and Greece at 98.5%, 97.7% and 95.7% respectively.

In his announcement, Mr. Kadis explained how the quality of bathing water directly affected that amount of tourism. The better the quality of the waters, the better is the quality of the sea and the level of tourism.

The in-depth report which studied over 21 000 bathing waters, reported that 112 out of 113 bathing water sites were excellent in quality.

In a bid to give the retail sector a much-needed reboot, Cyprus’ apex mall has announced the beginning of an early summer sale, where shops are slated to offer discounts of over 50%.

Having reopened to customers on June 9, the Mall of Cyprus has already begun its ‘Summer 2020’ collection.

The collection includes various season-suited clothing items –shoes, bags, beachwear, casual clothes and athletic wear.

Shops will remain open from 10am to 8pm every day.

A recent Eurostat study has revealed that Cyprus has the second-largest number of non-nationals living in the country within the European Union.

The island nation has 18% of its population coming from foreign countries – second only after Luxembourg, the same figure lies at 47%.

Malta takes the third place at 17%.

Besides these three, other EU countries that have recorded a high proportion of foreign nationals included Spain, Estonia, Austria, Ireland, Latvia, Germany and Belgium. For each of these countries, the proportion of foreign national is over 10%.

Contrastingly, Romania and Poland had the least percentage of non-national workers, at under 1%.

In what is being considered good news after the intense lockdown due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, budget aircraft carrier Wizz Air has introduced 5 new routes, expanding its presence in Cyprus.

Besides the new routes, Wizz Air is building a third aircraft at its latest base in Larnaca.

Scheduled to start on August 1, the budget carrier will increase the number of flights to Athens, while introducing new ones to Prague, Paris Beauvais, Heraklion, Gdansk, and Eindhoven.

With the new additions, Wizz Air is now offering 36 routes to over 20 countries from its base in Larnaca, with a yearly seating capacity of 280,000.

In a statement to the press, Chief executive Jozsef Varadi announced the news, explaining how the new flights and routes have been added weeks within the opening of the Larnaca base. The further added that the airlines is delighted with the new development, and is currently making arrangements to add as many routes as is safely possible in the near future.

Just as the novel coronavirus pandemic was about to die down in Cyprus, 2 new cases were detected on the island nation. The cases were detected on the very day the last remaining COVID-19 patient was discharged.

According to the health ministry, the new development leads to the total number of confirmed cases now standing at 988.

Both the cases in question were among incoming passengers and repatriated Cypriot nationals. The ministry said that their contacts are currently in the process of being traced.

Apart from these two, there are no other coronavirus patients in treatment in any state hospitals.

The last patient to be discharged before the 2 new infections was an 80-year-old gentleman.

The health department has currently kept at least 40 beds on standby in the event a second wave of the disease strikes.

Furthermore, all health, hygiene and social distancing measures are being maintained to ensure that the spread of COVID-19, if any, remains as minimal as possible.

Booking flights post-Covid has been increasing steady, and the latest data only proves this to be true.

According to Easyjet, flights from London to Cyprus that are slated to run in July have mostly been sold out.

The airline further explained how this development has partially happened due to the fact that the flight capacity has reduced to maintain social distancing measures. More and more seats will be opened up as and when the pandemic eases.

According to an Easyjet spokesperson, the airlines’ customer care department is currently writing to waiting customers that they are doing the best they can to maintain the schedule and accommodate as many persons as they can without putting anyone in jeopardy.

They explained that every passenger who gets a ticket will be contacted at least 21 days before their scheduled flight.

They also assured that they will maintain all safety precautions necessary to keep the contagion at bay. This includes social distancing, luggage handling, and of course masks being compulsory throughout.

In what is considered a worrying statistic, especially for gender inequality, a Eurostat report has revealed that around 1 in 3 women over the age of 65 are living alone and unassisted.

This is a stark contrast to men, as only 1 in 10 of those are living in similar conditions.

In the same age bracket, those living with just one more adult is also 30 percent for women, which is the same as the over-65 bracket. In the case of m en, however, the figure is much high – at over 33 per cent.

The data in question here applies exclusively to those who are living in private homes.

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the tourism industry the most, and countries are taking the safest possible routes to get back on track as the spread eases.

According to a report by KAN News, the island nation will now allow Israeli nationals for tourism purposes without them having to undergo any kind of quarantine.

This, however, applied only on the condition that travelers would have to take and test negative for a COVID-19 test within 72 hours of arriving on the island.

The move comes after a sharp decline in active cases and steadfast recoveries in both countries. Cyprus has shied away from reaching the 1,000 mark in coronavirus cases and has thus far reported only 17 deaths.

Meanwhile Israel too is making its way to normalcy with the economy’s staggered reopening, and only 2,600 pending active cases. The rate of infection in the country is progressively dropping daily.

The media in Cyprus has reported Turkish aviation authorities preventing a chartered airplane with medical supplies reaching Cyprus.

The Cypriot government-chartered airplane, which contained over 36 tones worth of mask, gowns, gloves, and other medical equipment from China was blocked by Turkey.

According to Transport Minister Yiannis Karousos’s statement to the press, Turkey’s disallowance of aircraft enter Cyprus via the Turkish airspace resulted in the pilot having to recalculate his course. Added to this was the issue of lack of fuel.

The issue was finally solved with the pilot redirecting to Moscow airport in Russia. The plane will refuel here before embarking to Cyprus via a different route that does not include the Turkish airspace.

He further added that The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was informed of this interruption so as to take proper actions against concerned parties as and when required.

Cyprus is all set to reopen its airports on June 9 after ending strict lockdowns put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This reopening is happening right as said lockdown restrictions which were imposed to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus are being slowly lifted.

In a statement to the media, Cypriot’s Deputy Tourism Minister Savvas Perdios said that the authorities expect to fully contain virus’s by June. This means that it would be safe to go back to business as usual and open airports and other transportation means – especially since it is very essential.

The island nation was one of the few countries in Europe that took early measures to prevent the coronavirus outbreak to take deadly proportions. Borders were sealed in around the middle of March – much before other European nations, and went on to stop all passenger flights since March 21.

Cyprus currently has 918 cases of COVID-19.

The government has reported a sharp increase in welfare spending resulting from the outbreak of COVID-19.

The report says that the state’s welfare spending has increased to a total of €513 million as the state has launched multiple support programs to ensure the personal and professional safety of its residents.

The money spent during the period of January to April 2020, is an increase of a whopping 108% – as compared to the €246.9 million that was spent between January to April 2019.

The report clearly attributes the spike in welfare spending to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the resulting expansion of the National Health Scheme and its payment.

The top spender in this regard has been the Ministry of Labor, which spent over €153 million in the month of April. Its total expenditure in the January-April period has been €407 million. This was confirmed by Labour Minister Zeta Emilianidou, who explained to the Parliament how a sum of €219 million was paid to the people from March May through a variety of welfare schemes.

The spending has had an adverse effect on the state’s financial status. The state revenue has gone down by 13.5% during this period, as opposed to the expenditure which has risen up by 16.5%.

As coronavirus outbreak eases, European nations are slowly opening up to return to a new normal. Temporarily shut down Ryanair is all set to begin flights to and from Cyprus from the 1^st of July.

The budget airliner reported that it will start offering daily flights all Northern European countries including the Netherlands, Ireland, the UK, Germany and Belgium, to top holiday destination airports such as Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy, and of course Cyprus.

It will, however, be operated only at 40% of its schedule and remain compliant with health and social distancing guidelines – even as it continues to serve during peak tourism season.

To give the business a much-needed boost, Ryanair is launching an exclusive travel sale, offering travelers fares as low as €29.99 for a one-way flight. Seats must be booked by May 28 midnight, however.

The Cypriot government is all set to deport 17 migrants for having links with terrorist organizations.

The government recently announced that the 17, who were arrested on the basis of suspicion of having links to extremist groups or being part of terror activities were being held in a detention centre.

They will be deported once the transport system is back online after the end of the coronavirus lockdowns and restrictions.

According to a statement by the ministry, the information of the individuals’ involvement in terror groups was verified by Interpol and Europol. Both organizations iterated that these people either belonged to extremist groups, or were directly involved in acts of terrorism.

The details of these people were not disclosed for security reasons.