Current Events

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused several casualties – both direct and indirect, and the Cyprus tourism industry is clearly one of them.

The novel coronavirus has been instrumental in the plummeting of what was once the island’s top economic performer to go down to almost zero, as the entire world has gone into various modes and phases of lockdown.

According to Harry Kyrillou, the owner of the travel agency Planet Holidays, not a single booking was made for Cyprus in the month of July. He further expressed his frustration at the situation, saying how they have practically lost the entire year, and that any travel bookings, if made, will be very few. He explained how this has and will continue to affect hoteliers and anyone else who is in the tourism industry.

According to the National Statistical Service (Cystat), the first 6 months of 2020 saw tourism revenue plummeting to €122 million from last year’s €1billion.

It is, therefore. No cliché that the local economy is – and will be bearing the brunt of the loss of tourism revenue. Not only will the GDP be significantly lower, but the level of unemployment for those working in hospitality will continue to be on the rise.

The partial lifting of travel bans haven’t been as much of a help, since there are still strict lockdowns in effect in other countries. Add to that the fact that people are reluctant to move around as freely given the threat of the virus.

In a bid to salvage the situation, the tourist season has been furthered till the end of October. However, there still isn’t much hope for the numbers to dramatically improve.

The whole world has been doing its best to help Lebanon cope with the effects of the deadly Beirut blast, and Cyprus is no exception. The island nation will be donating shipping an additional 170 tons of humanitarian aid to Lebanon.

According to a statement by the volunteerism commissioner’s office, the aid, which has been collected by NGOs. companies, local government authorities, and the Church and has been sent to be distributed in Lebanon.

The office expressed their pride, saying it has been incredible how a country as small as Cyprus has managed to collect such a large number of things through cooperation.

They praised the efforts of the volunteers, who took the mammoth effort to receive every individual package, sort out all the packages, and finally packaging all the items.

The total package will be loaded on containers at the port of Limassol.

Isabelle Dumont, the ambassador of France to Cyprus, is about to end her term. She was received by Cypriot president Nikos Anastasiadis for this occasion.

After her meeting with the President, Dumont reflected on several events. One of these was the rising level of tensions in the Mediterranean region.

She remarked how the region, which has been known to be a place of peace, has become a site of conflict. So much so that she feels that the EU must now have a larger presence in the Eastern Mediterranean to maintain harmony.

In particular, she expressed her concerns on the activities of Turkey.

Notably, France has maintained an active presence in the Eastern Mediterranean after the escalation of tensions. Their navy also recently participated in an aeronautical exercise along with their Cypriot, Greek and Italian counterparts.

The rising case of COVID-19 cases in various parts of Europe has brought considerable changes to Cyprus’ safe list.

The island nation has edited its list once again, having removed Croatia, France and the Netherlands. Cyprus has also the non-EU countries Tunisia and Andorra from the list.

All the three EU countries in question have been bumped down from Category C (i.e. the safe list) to Category B. The latter category mandates restricted entry, even with a COVID-19 test.

Category C countries allow exclusive entry to Cypriot nationals and residents, and those who have special permits. Those cleared under this category must have a coronavirus negative test with them, get a test once they arrive on the island. Then, they must go under self-isolation for 14 days. They also need to take a test again 48 hours before the end of the 14-day isolation period.

Other European Union countries that have received a downgrade in status – from category B from A – are Ireland, Austria, Iceland, Denmark and Switzerland.

Meanwhile, Sweden’s status was upgraded to category B from category C.

Category B countries have more relaxation – all they require is a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of boarding the flight to Cyprus.

Environmental consciousness has become the norm, and companies are increasingly swaying towards making eco-friendliness products.

In the latest such initiative, Lidl Cyprus has just launched its own shoes that have be made with recycled waste.

Named the Ocean Bound Plastic Crivit Shoes, these are made from 25 percent PET bottles that have been collected from the coastal areas and islands, along with 75 percent recycled polyester. This concoction will help both clear and protect the ocean, while protecting first-hand materials.

These new trainers are available for all ranges – children, men, and women. Plus, they are just as comfortable and durable as their conventional counterparts, while maintaining an affordable price.

This shows come as part of the REset Plastic, an initiative by the Schwarz Group, which aims to reduce the impact of plastic waste by reducing plastic wastage as much as possible.

Lidl Cyprus is a participant within this initiative. The company has 5 areas of action – Reduce (i.e. reducing plastic use as much as possible), Redesign (i.e. redesigning plastic to make them recyclable and prolong their life cycle), Recycle (i.e. collecting and sorting recyclable materials and close the life cycle of raw materials), Remove (i.e. supporting campaigns that advocate plastic waste removal); and Research (Looking for ways to develop innovative solutions recycling used materials and protecting new ones.

Lidl aims to reduce the use of new plastic to at least 20% by the year 2025.

In what is being considered in new step in military cooperation, a joint exercise between Cypriot, Italian, French and Greek naval forces will be held near the west of Cyprus.

The preparations for the exercise, which comes in the middle of continuing tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean region, have already begun. 3 Greek F-16 jets and 3 French Rafael fighter jets have already arrived the Paphos’ Andreas Papandreou airbase.

They will be participating with the Cyprus National Guard.

The joint naval drill comes after repeated claims by both Cyprus and Greece of Turkey violating their respective exclusive economic zones (EEZ). Turkey had sent the Oruc Reis, its seismic research vessel, along with several naval escort vessels the EEZ regions.

Both Turkey as well as Turkish Cyprus have expressed their outrage at the “Islamophobic” act of the hanging of a Byzantine flag on a mosque in the Greek Cyprus region.

Fuat Oktay, the vice-president of Turkey, took to Twitter to express his disapproval, saying how the Greek Cypriot administration must end the encouragement of anti-Islam and anti-Turkish activities. They must take measures and see to it that the “diseased mentality,” should be put to an end.

The move was further criticized by Omer Celik, a spokesman of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party. He also took to Twitter to express how the Greece must end its hostility towards Islam with immediate effect.

“We strongly condemn the hanging of a Byzantine flag on a mosque in Tuzla village in Southern Cyprus. The Greek administration should stop hostility toward Islam,” he said in a tweet.

Greek Cyprus has seen a series of attacks in the recent days. The most prominent of these has been the hanging of the Byzantine flag on a mosque in Southern Cyprus’ Tuzia village.

Another incident includes an arson attempt on another mosque in the region.

Vassilis Demetriades has taken the post of the new shipping minister of Cyprus. He has replaced outgoing minister Natasa Pilides, who herself is taking up a new post as the Energy Minister.

In his handover ceremony, Demetriades expressed his happiness at taking over the new role. He explained how it has been a long 22-year-journey since he first entered the premises of what was then the Department of Merchant Shipping (DMS).

He described himself as a bright-eyed employee with great ambitions to grow the shipping sector of the island nation.

He further explained how he, along with the Deputy Ministry will be working as a single unit to work towards the growth of development of the sector.

Shipping has historically been a major part of Cyprus’ economy, and is said to contribute over 7% to the island nation’s GDP.

Prior to his new position, Demetriades serves as a maritime policy expert at the Directorate-General’s office for Mobility and Transport at the European Commission.

Outgoing minister Pilides, who was the first shipping minister of Cyprus, praised Demetriades, saying she was happy to see the junior ministry in the safest hands.

Crime has been on the rise in Cyprus, and the latest incident proves how serious the situation is.

In the last series of happenings, 2 criminals were expedited from the island nation. One of these was a suspect in the theft of thousands of Bitcoin, while the other was a notorious money launderer with Hezbollah links.

The Cypriot Department of Justice (DOJ) explained how one of the suspects is in fact wanted in the US states of Arizona and Georgia for extortion and cybercrimes. The other is a wanted man in Florida for conducting money-laundering activities on behalf of Hezbollah.

The first man, Joshua Polloso Epifaniou, is a Cypriot national. He has been charged with wire fraud, along with conspiracy to commit computer fraud. He is also wanted for extortion and identity theft. According to the DOJ, Mr. Epifaniou along with his accomplices had stolen personal information from a variety of people including a New York-based hardware company, a California-based an online game publisher, a an online sports site owned by Turner, and an employment website based out of in Virginia. He has been accused of stealing over $56,850 in Bitcoin through his fraudulent activities.

The second extradited man,  Ghassan Diab is a Lebanese citizen, who has allegedly laundered over $100,000. He has also been identifies as a potential Hezbollah member.

In what is being called a very symbolic move that shows the solidarity between France and Cyprus, French President Emmanuel Macron posted a very important message in Greek language, as opposed to the standard French and English.

The message, which was posted on Facebook, said how President Macron supports the plight of the island nation as well as Greece, which have recently come under distress due to Turkey’s aggressive maritime tactics.

The statement added how said tactics were nothing short of a human right violation, and that such threatening treatment with an EU member state shall not be tolerated.

Macron went on to explain how the mounting security and energy issues in the Mediterranean area are being caused by other powers, over whom the EU itself has little to no influence.

That being said, a solution must be made to settle the issue. To that end, a meeting of the EU’s southern members will soon be called.

According to a report by the Pancyprian Association of Cancer Patients and Friends (Pasykaf), as many as 78 new cases of head and neck cancer get reported annually.

Most of the recorded cases have been known to occur in the laryngeal area. Most of the patients constitute men, with the male to female ratio lying between 2:1 to 4:1.

Pasykaf says that most of these cases have their cause in health-risking activities alcoholism and smoking, and pre-existing conditions such as EBV (Epstain-Barr virus), HPV (human papillomavirus).

The report further mentioned the various symptoms of head and neck cancer, which include change in voice, hoarseness, ear pain, persistent nasal congestion, nosebleeds, and issues with swallowing.

Pasykaf advised that if people experiencing these symptoms must contact their physician immediately.

The term ‘head and neck cancer’ defines a specific set of cancer types which strictly develop in the nose, throat, mouth, salivary glands, and other places in the neck or head.

Currently, these are over 550,000 recorded cases of these with over 380,000 deaths.

In what is being considered alarming news, an amber alert has been issued in observance of the sudden and sharp rise in temperatures.

The alert, issued by the Cyprus meteorological service, has been issued for what is the 49th temperature warning for 2020. According to the alert, the temperatures are set to go as high as 43 degrees Celsius in the plains, and over 35C in the mountainous areas during the peak period of 11am to 5pm.

According to the weather forecast, the rise in temperature has happened due to a heated atmospheric mass that has been affecting the area, effectively raising the temperature by several degrees.

The Met Office further declared said that while it will be considerably breezy in the coastal, the inland areas would remain hot and dry.

Temperatures in the night time, however, should cool down to around 25C inland, 23C in the coasts other coastal areas.

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.