Day: June 14, 2024

Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides will be travelling to Switzerland on Saturday afternoon to attend the Ukraine Peace Summit in Burgenstock. The Director of his press office Victoras Papadopoulos says in a written statement that the President will address the Summit on the issue of food security and will be also making a concluding statement. The Summit is expected to be attended by a large number of heads of state and government, government representatives as well as heads of regional and international organizations, including the United Nations and the European Union. "The aim of the Summit is to lay the foundations for the beginning of a peace process in Ukraine and will address issues such as nuclear security, food security and humanitarian issues," Papadopoulos says. On Sunday, the President will depart for Brussels for the EPP summit and then he will attend an informal dinner of the European Council. During the working dinner, the heads of state and government of the member states will assess the results of the recent EU elections. EU leaders will also exchange views regarding the new heads of the EU Institutions, for which final decisions are expected to be taken during the EUCO on 27 and 28 June. The President of the Republic will be accompanied by the Director of his Press Office and the Director of his Diplomatic Office as well as the Deputy Minister of European Affairs who will join him in Brussels. Source: Cyprus News Agency

The Vice President of the Committee of Ethics and Sports Safeguarding (CESS), Efthymios Efthymiou, signed a Memorandum of Cooperation and Understanding with the National Platform for Sports Integrity (EPATHLA) of Greece on Tuesday 11 June in Athens, the Committee said in a statement on Friday. As noted, the aim of the Memorandum of Cooperation between the National Platforms of the two countries, which was signed on behalf of EPATHLA by the Secretary General of Sport at the Ministry of Culture and Sport of Greece and EPATHLA President George Mavrotas, is to develop all kinds of synergies to combat the manipulation of sports matches. It is added that the Memorandum foresees, among other things, the cooperation of the parties for the joint design, promotion and implementation of information, education and awareness-raising programmes and actions and the cooperation and exchange of information on the legislative and regulatory framework for combating the manipulation of sports matches in Greece and Cyprus. It is added that the Memorandum also provides for cooperation in the Council of Europe and the European Union institutions on issues relating to the fight against match manipulation, the promotion of the Macolin Convention and the encouragement of athletes and every member of the sports family (athletes, coaches, agents, etc.) to submit reports concerning incidents of manipulation in sports, through the EPATHLA Reporting Mechanisms and EDPA's submission mechanisms. As part of the Memorandum signing, it was agreed that the first meeting of the Ethics and Sports Protection Committee with EPATHLA will be held in Ancient Olympia in Spring 2025, the statement concludes. Source: Cyprus News Agency

The Republic of Cyprus does not accept lectures from anyone on how to manage the issue of immigrants, President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulides said Friday. The President, who was arriving at the presentation of the Cyprus Olympic Team that took place in the Olympic House, in Nicosia, was asked whether immigrants that are stranded in the buffer zone were deliberately allowed to enter. He replied that the Republic of Cyprus has informed both the United Nations and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees of its readiness to assist in any humanitarian issues in relation to these individuals. Moreover, he said that the Republic of Cyprus does not accept lectures on the management of the immigration issue from anyone. "We have proven many times our sensitivity to this specific issue, but also how we manage it" he said, adding that it is easy for those who are not in Cyprus to make statements on the matter. The management regarding the territory of the Republic of Cyprus, the effective control exercised by the government of the Republic of Cyprus, are two issues that are done following decisions of the government. Stressing that we will not allow -under any circumstances - the creation of a new route for irregular immigrants, he noted that we have conveyed in many cases our readiness to help in the management of this problem. It is a challenge that the government is ready to address, he went on to say. The President conveyed a message to those who think that with public statements they put pressure on the Republic saying that they will not achieve anything by that. Such problems, he noted, are addressed through cooperation and not through public interventions. Source: Cyprus News Agency

The Republic of Cyprus was commended for the successful management of the migration issue by EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson, particularly in relation to returns, an issue in which according to Johansson the country could be an example for other Member States, during the Justice and Home Affairs Council of the EU (JHA) on June 13th and 14th, attended by Minister of Justice and Public Order Marios Hartsiotis. According to an announcement by the Ministry of Justice, in his intervention during the second day of the Council's proceedings Hartsiotis expressed his thanks to the Commission, as well as for the special mention made in a relevant report on Cyprus to the country's successful connection to the Schengen Information System in July 2023. He also expressed Cyprus' support for the priorities set for the Schengen area for the years 2024-2025. During a working lunch, according to the statement, there was an exchange of views on the challenges that the EU has to face in order to strengthen it s crisis preparedness. The Minister suggested that when severe weather events are forecast, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (rescEU) should be used to move the necessary equipment, such as fire-fighting aircraft, from areas that do not seem to be at risk to areas closer to the areas of risk, such as in the case of the EU's own fire-fighting equipment. Hartsiotis also stressed that Cyprus, due to its geographical location, can contribute significantly to the EU's overall crisis response planning. According to the press release, during the first day of the Council the Ministers also discussed the fight against drug trafficking and organised crime, the proposal for a Regulation on preventing and combating the sexual abuse of children through the internet and ways to tackle the phenomenon of abuse by third country nationals of the exemption from the obligation to obtain an entry visa. During the second day of the Council, according to the press release, an important topic of discussion was the proposal for a directive against the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. Ministers were asked for their position on whether long limitation periods should be set for the offences concerned and how to deal with material produced by artificial intelligence systems depicting the sexual abuse of children. Hartsiotis supported both the establishment of long limitation periods and the criminalization of depictions of child exploitation through artificial intelligence tools. Also discussed, according to the Ministry of Justice statement, was Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and the fight against impunity. The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court provided an update on the ongoing procedures for investigating crimes committed in Ukraine. Both Hartsiotis and the representative of Greece recalled that 50 years ago Cyprus was also a victim of equally violent aggression and crimes by Turkey, which still illegally occupies 40% of its territory Source: Cyprus News Agency

Job vacancies in Cyprus rose by an annual 7.3% in the first quarter of 2024 whereas they rose by almost 10% compared with the fourth quarter of 2023. According to data released by the Statistical Service of Cyprus (Cystat) job vacancies reached 13,229, recording an increase of 901 vacancies compared to the respective period of the previous year. Compared to the 4th quarter of 2023 the number of job vacancies increased by 1.191 or by 9.9%, Cystat added. The job vacancy rate in the 1st quarter of 2024 amounted to 3.0%, from 2.8% in the previous quarter. The largest job vacancy rates in the first quarter of 2024 were observed in the Sectors of Accommodation and Food Service Activities 7.8%), followed by Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities with 3.2% and Information and Communication with 3.1%, Cystat added. Source: Cyprus News Agency

There were no incidents of flight cancellations to Cyprus, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Kostas Koumis, told CNA on Thursday, noting that recent fires "have been extinguished" and the country remains a "safe destination." "Following a report in the British press raising the question whether flights to our country have been cancelled as a consequence of the fires that broke out this week, I would like to assure that we have not had any incidents of flight cancellations," the Deputy Minister said. Koumis stated that "all scheduled flights are operating normally, the fires have been extinguished and our country was, is and remains a safe destination." On the contrary, he added, on Thursday "we had the inaugural flight of Royal Jordanian from Amman, Jordan to Paphos airport, Jazeera Airways flights from Kuwait to Larnaca airport resumed, and in general flights to our country continue to be strengthened on a weekly basis." Koumis also recalled that earlier this week Wizz Air announced that it increases the numb er of flights from a total of 11 airports in Europe. Source: Cyprus News Agency

Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign and European Affairs, Harris Georgiades participated on Friday in the works of the meeting of Chairmen of the European Affairs Committees of the European Union member states of the Mediterranean, in Crete, Greece. A House press release said that during a debate on EU enlargement, Georgiades said that enlargement is a key political tool which contributes, among other things, to the geopolitical stability of the wider EU neighborhood. He also noted that it is important for all the candidate countries to meet the accession criteria and that the EU itself takes supportive measures in the direction of assisting their accession process. Regarding the EU-Turkey relations the Cypriot MP pointed out that these cannot be based on the questioning of European institutions and values by Ankara and that it is imperative to draw up a reliable common EU policy for Turkey that includes clear red lines. Source: Cyprus News Agency