Day: June 15, 2021

The EU and the US agreed on a 7page long joint statement, during the Summit that was held earlier on Tuesday in Brussels. As expected the two sides included a reference on the “Eastern Mediterranean, where differences should be settled through dialogue in good faith and in accordance with international law.”

More specifically the agreed text on paragraph 29 reads as follows:

“We intend to further strengthen our joint engagement in the Western Balkans, including through the EU-facilitated dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina on normalisation of their relations, and by supporting key reforms for EU integration.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The Pancyprian Organisation of the Relatives of Undeclared Prisoners and Missing Persons has sent an open letter to the Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, urging him to undertake an initiative for the humanitarian issue of the missing persons.

Recalling recent statements made by Tatar on the missing persons issue, the Organisation notes that the main problem that the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) is facing today is the lack and difficulty to find specific information and data about the burial sites of missing persons and the sites where remains were moved from mass graves, as in the case of Assia, Lapatsa, Karavas and others, adding that “it would be naive to believe that they were not organised and that these data do not exist or can not be easily found.”

It adds that unfortunately until today this information has not been submitted to the CMP, des

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The preservation of mosaics in ancient Salamina, in Turkish-occupied Cyprus, is of great importance and historical significance, Takis Hadjidemetriou, Co-chair of the bicommunal Technical Committee on cultural heritage told the Cyprus News Agency.

The works are in progress and are set to be concluded at the end of the year. The mosaics are in the churches of Agios Epifanios and Kampanopetra, near the ruins of Salamina.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

DBRS Morningstar rating agency, in a report points out that Cypriot banks substantially accelerated the reduction of their legacy NPEs in 2020. The NPE ratio dropped by 10 percentage points throughout 2020.

Furthermore, the agency noted that NPEs not provisioned for, reached their minimum in several years. DBRS Morningstar expects the sales of bad loans to non-bank institutions to remain the main driver of NPE reduction.

“The battery of support measures have effectively reduced and deferred the potential impact on banks` asset quality during 2020. However, as the extraordinary support is withdrawn, credit losses could start to accumulate in the system”, says DBRS Morningstar.

It is also noted that non-performing assets and overall leverage remains high. DBRS Morningstar views positively some of the measures to continue addressing the challenge

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the United Nations, Andreas Hadjichrysanthou, in a letter addressed to the Secretary-General, has recorded violations of the national airspace of Cyprus and the illegal use of closed ports as well as Turkey’s stance in the Geneva negotiations in May.

The letter dated 27 May 2021, circulated on Monday as a UN General Assembly document.

The letter recorded the violations of the national airspace of Cyprus and the infringements of international air traffic regulations in the flight information region of Cyprus and the illegal use of closed ports and airports in Cyprus by Turkey during the months of February and March 2021.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

EU and US will vow that differences in the Eastern Mediterranean should be settled in accordance with the international law of the sea, according to a draft text of the EU – US summit conclusions, obtained earlier by CNA.

?ccording to paragraph 29 in the draft conclusions, the EU-US leaders agree that they “resolve to work hand in hand for sustainable de-escalation in the Eastern Mediterranean, where differences should be settled through dialogue in good faith and in accordance with the international law of the sea. We aim for a cooperative and mutually beneficial relationship with a democratic Turkey.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Cyprus’ National recovery and resilience plan aims to strengthen the resilience of Cyprus’ economy and the country`s potential for economic, social and environmentally sustainable long-term growth and prosperity, said Director General of the Ministry of Finance, George Pantelis. He added that compared to the baseline scenario, the country`s GDP will be increased by 7 percentage points more during the five years of implementation of the plan.

Speaking at the online discussion on “Europe Recovery Plan, an Economy at the Service of the People”, organized by Oxygono and Europe Direct Larnaca, Pantelis stressed that the reforms and investments that will be made through the Plan are estimated to increase productivity in the medium term, while in relation to GDP it is estimated that from 10.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The European Council “recalls its previous conclusions” and remains “fully committed to the comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem in accordance with the relevant UNSC resolutions”, the 27 EU member states note in the draft conclusions of the upcoming EU Summit (24-25 June) sent to the 27 national delegations, seen by CNA.

In the same draft text the EU27 regret that “the informal meeting in Geneva under the auspices of the United Nations did not pave the way for the resumption of the formal negotiations” and reiterate that “the European Union will continue to play an active role in supporting the process”.

More specifically, according to the draft conclusions seen by CNA “the European Council reverted to the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean and the European Union’s relations with Turkey, as agreed in March, and recalled the EU’s strategic inter

Source: Cyprus News Agency