Day: September 22, 2022

Deputy Minister for Shipping Vassilis Demetriades expressed his will to deepen bilateral relations with Portugal, particularly in issues associated with Shipping.

 

Demetriades on Thursday met with Portuguese Ambassador to Cyprus Vanda Sequeira.

 

According to a press release issued by the Deputy Ministry, welcoming Sequeira, Demetriades express his satisfaction over the excellent cooperation between the two countries and underlined his will for the further deepening of these relations particularly in the fields of shipping, blue economy both on a bilateral level as well as in the context of the European Union and the International Maritime Organisation.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

We stand with our European partners, Government Spokesperson Marios Pelekanos said on Thursday, following the decisions taken by the EU foreign ministers in New York as a reaction to the speech by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.

 

Pelekanos told the press in NYC that we stand with our partners with determination and awareness as we have done all throughout the previous period.

 

The EU Foreign ministers met yesterday in NYC, in an extraordinary meeting following Putin’s speech and examined their steps. Cyprus Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides also participated and the Ministers issued a joint declaration.

 

In light of the decisions taken, President Anastasiades’ meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was cancelled.

 

Pelekanos said that Putin’s speech brings new facts as regards Russia’s invasion in Ukraine. Given these developments and in light of the upcoming EU Foreign Affairs Council, he went on, the EU’s guidelines were for avoiding bilateral meetings with Russia and therefore the meeting between Anastasiades and Lavrov was cancelled.

 

The Spokesman said that we are entering a new critical phase and we must make collective steps along with the EU as we did the previous period.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

MPO today announced their recognition by Nucleus Research as a Leader in the 2022 Control Tower Value Matrix. We believe that in today’s highly volatile and increasingly complex global supply chains, businesses are recognizing the critical need for visibility beyond just transportation. We’re proud to be seen as a leading platform providing organizations with real-time visibility and instant control over orders, inventory, logistics, and transportation.

 

“The growing ecosystem of multi-enterprise partners and systems (ERP, WMS, CRM, APS), are putting a strain on organizations’ ability to view and orchestrate their end-to-end operations,” says Martin Verwijmeren, CEO and Co-Founder of MPO. “We’re proud to offer a comprehensive supply chain execution platform that unifies the multi-multi landscape of parties, systems, and processes, empowering businesses to digitize, optimize and innovate their supply chains across inbound, outbound, and return flows. We also extend our congratulations to Kinaxis on their own placement in the Leaders quadrant, we are proud to be a Kinaxis company.”

 

This news comes in the wake of many recent initiatives of the company, including a leading LATAM 4PL selecting the MPO Control Tower for its global expansion through EMEA and Asia, as well as its recent acquisition by fellow Nucleus Control Tower Value Matrix Leader, Kinaxis. The combination of Kinaxis RapidResponse® planning and MPO’s Multi Party Orchestration execution will uniquely deliver a complete real-time picture of every order across the lifecycle – from planned commitment through ultimate delivery.

 

About MPO: MPO, a Kinaxis company, offers a unified cloud platform for Multi Party Orchestration. The platform complements existing enterprise systems with visibility and control, and optimizes order, inventory, and transportation across dynamic, multi-party networks. MPO helps diverse brand owners and logistics service providers embrace the increasing complexity of their global, regional, and domestic supply chains to become faster, more flexible, agile, compliant, and reliable to their customers.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Greek Cypriot activist Andreas Soudjis will remain in “custody” for another five days in the Turkish-occupied areas of Cyprus following a decision by the “military court” which convened to examine the “charge” of photographing “military areas” in the north.

 

According to reports from the occupied areas the “public prosecutor” told the illegal court that the pictures were allegedly taken on 13 March in a fenced area of Famagusta while Soudjis was together with a group of 25 people.

 

The illegal police investigation showed that the maps of military areas which were on Soudjis’ phone resulted from a web search he had made and that the suspect had not visited those areas by car.

 

Soudjis, the illegal court heard, does not have a criminal record in the north.

 

An illegal breakaway state declared independence unilaterally, on November 15, 1983, in the areas under Turkish occupation, an action condemned by the UN Security Council and the international community as legally null and void.

 

The illegal declaration followed the division of the island after the Turkish military invaded Cyprus in 1974, occupying one third of its territory ever since.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses its disappointment regarding today’s decision of the Committee of Deputy Ministers of the Council of Europe to end the Council’s supervision process in the implementation of the ECHR Decision, regarding Titina Loizidou’s individual application against Turkey.

 

At the same time, the Ministry expresses disappointment regarding the negative role and involvement of the Secretariat of the Council of Europe in ending the supervision.

 

“It is noted that Turkey, despite paying some compensation to Ms. Loizidou, continues to not comply with its obligation to restore all or part of Ms. Loizidou’s property”, the Ministry says in a press release.

 

Therefore, it adds, “the decision to end the supervision of the implementation of the decision by the Council of Europe is legally unsound and politically problematic”.

 

“At the same time, it sends the wrong messages to Turkey, which the ECHR decision held solely responsible for depriving Ms. Loizidou of her property, as a result of the invasion and continued occupation of the northern part of Cyprus”.

 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs underlines that the aforementioned decision of the Committee of Deputy Ministers does not in any case imply the lifting and/or termination of Turkey’s obligations to restore Ms. Loizidou’s property.

 

Loizidou is a Greek Cypriot refugee who won a case against Turkey in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) regarding her property in the Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The slight increase recorded in the price of the halloumi cheese is justified, Minister of Agriculture Costas Kadis said on Thursday.

 

The Minister was replying to questions of the media on the sidelines of a seminar entitled “The control and certification of dairy products, the halloumi case” that took place in Limassol.

 

Regarding the increase in the price of halloumi, the Minister said that it is justified adding that it should have been the case already a few months ago when there was a rapid increase in raw materials, animal feed and energy.

 

But it is happening now, he said, adding that this is how healthy market functions.

 

“All cheeses in Europe had increased prices except for the Cypriot halloumi, so I believe that with this slight increase there is essentially a correction and in no way a distortion”, he explained.

 

Replying to other questions, he said that consumers will have noticed so far that on the market there is only halloumi that has been produced by certified cheese factories and underlined that “at the moment we focus on implementing the regulations as best as possible”.

 

Moreover, in his speech at the conference, the Minister said that the registration of halloumi as a PDO product (protected designation of origin) will help protect it from imitation and from attempts to usurp its reputation.

 

“With the registration, both the value and the demand of the authentic and now certified product are expected to increase, with a positive impact for the further development of our agricultural and livestock sector and the economy of our country in general” he said.

 

He also underlined that the protection of the PDO is the key to ensuring the quality, authenticity and the marketing of the product, both in Europe and in third countries, with which the European Union concludes relevant agreements.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

 

The President of the House of Representatives and the German Ambassador in Nicosia expressed their common will to further deepen the relations between the two countries during a meeting they held on Thursday.

 

According to a press release by the Parliament, President of the House of Representatives Annita Demetriou received on Thursday the Ambassador of Germany to Cyprus Anke Schlimm. During the meeting, they underlined the common will for further deepening of relations between Cyprus and Germany, especially at the parliamentary level.

 

In addition, they exchanged views on the increasing migration flows and underlined the importance of a holistic management of the refugee/immigration issue in the context of European solidarity, especially towards the front-line member states, and noted the practical support of Germany to Cyprus in this matter.

 

Demetriou referred to the substantive discussions she held in Germany with her counterpart Bärbel Bas and the Presidents and members of the Committees on Defence, Foreign and European Affairs on key issues of mutual European interest and the very positive results of her recent visit in Germany. She recalled the joint decision made with her German counterpart to undertake an initiative, in collaboration with the President of the European Parliament, with the aim of promoting issues related to human rights, gender equality and greater representation of women in decision making centers.

 

Referring to the Cyprus problem, Demetriou condemned the increased Turkish provocations in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Cyprus and at land, including the fenced off area of Varosha in Turkish occupied Famagusta.

 

She also spoke about the important role that Cyprus can play, as a bridge of dialogue and cooperation between the European Union and the countries of the region, and achieve the EU goal for energy security.

 

Finally, she underlined that Cyprus’ cooperation with friendly neighboring countries aims to promote peace and stability in the wider region and does not exclude any country, provided that it respects international law and refrains from aggressive actions that dangerously increase tension.

 

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively. Turkey does not recognize the Republic of Cyprus, an EU member since 2004, and considers a portion of the island’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as its own or belonging to the illegal regime, set up in the northern Turkish-occupied part of Cyprus.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Strategic ties between Cyprus and the United States have been significantly upgraded over the last 10 years, said President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades, who attended on Wednesday afternoon (local time) a reception hosted by US President Joe Biden.

 

The annual reception was hosted on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and President Anastasiades was accompanied by the First Lady, Andri Anastasiades.

 

Addressing US President Biden, Anastasiades said in a message on social media that “it is a distinct pleasure to meet once again”. Furthermore, calling President Biden as his “dear friend” the President of Cyprus notes that “over the last 10 years, the strategic ties between Cyprus and the United States have been significantly upgraded and constantly enhancing through tangible deliverables.”

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides will be visiting Lithuania on Thursday and Friday, where she will be discussing issues related to food safety as well as health priorities, including the support provided to Ukraine in these areas.

 

Kyriakides will meet Minister of Agriculture Kęstutis Navickas to discuss issues related to sustainable food systems and food security, sustainable use of pesticides, antimicrobial resistance, labelling, and animal welfare.

 

The Commissioner will also meet Health Minister Arūnas Dulkys to discuss COVID-19 vaccinations and preparedness and the situation regarding monkeypox.

 

The agenda also includes the EU’s health support to Ukraine, the upcoming reform of the pharmaceutical legislation and Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan.

 

Commissioner Kyriakides and Minister Dulkys will also visit the Santaros Clinics and Cancer Hospital, where she will meet with the CEOs of the Clinics, as well as doctors and patients.

 

In a statement ahead of the visit, Kyriakides said that she is “looking forward to meeting some of the healthcare staff who have been helping to take care of Ukrainian refugees in Vilnius”.

 

“Today, the conflict is still very much ongoing, and, more than ever, support is needed for refugees and patients arriving in the EU” she underlined.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

In 2021, almost a quarter (23.6%) of all self-employed people aged 18 years and over in the EU were at risk of poverty and social exclusion. Compared with 2020 and looking at activity status, this was the only category that experienced a deterioration in the poverty situation, increasing from 22.6% to 23.6%, according to data released by Eurostat, the statistical service of the EU.

 

In Cyprus in 2021, 9.5% of the self-employed were at risk of poverty and social exclusion, which was an increase compared to 8.1% in 2020. At the same time, in 2021 Cyprus was the country with the third lowest percentage of self-employed at risk.

 

From 2020 to 2021, at risk of poverty or social exclusion rates in the EU decreased for the unemployed, pensioners and employees by 1.6 (from 66.1% to 64.5%), 0.6 (from 19.2% to 18.6%) and 0.3 percentage points (from 9.4% to 9.1%), respectively.

 

In the case of Cyprus, there was a reduction at the percentage of those at risk for the unemployed (from 55.0% to 51.6%, 3.4 percentage points lower), for pensioners (from 23.3% to 20.5%, 2.8 percentage points lower) and for employees (from 8.7% to 8.3%, 0.4 percentage points lower).

 

At the national level, in 2021, Romania, Portugal and Estonia recorded the highest shares of self-employed people at risk of poverty and social exclusion (70.8%, 32.4% and 32.2%).

 

Romania, in particular, experienced the highest increase from 2020 to 2021 (5.1 percentage points).

 

In contrast, the poverty situation for the self-employed improved in 11 countries, with Ireland and Hungary reporting the highest decrease in such rates from 2020 to 2021 (3.2 and 3.7 percentage points lower, respectively).

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency