Updates from Cyprus
Chief of the National Guard Lieutenant General Demokritos Zervakis has expressed satisfaction with the signing of the first Bilateral Defence Cooperation Program between Cyprus and the USA.
“Delighted for the signing of our first ever Cyprus-USA Bilateral Defence Cooperation Program,” Lieutenant General Zervakis wrote on his twitter account.
He added that “a flourishing and mutually reinforcing relation is steadily expanding. More to follow.”
Source: Cyprus News Agency
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his wife Mareva Grabowski-Mitsotakis hosted a lunch for the President of the Republic of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades and his wife Andri Anastasiades on Tuesday, January 3, during which Mitsotakis reiterated Greece’s support for a just and viable solution to the Cyprus problem.
The Greek Prime Minister thanked the President of the Republic of Cyprus for the close cooperation of Greece and Cyprus both at bilateral and European level, during Anastasiades’ service.
“It was also stressed that Greece and the Republic of Cyprus are pillars of security and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean as responsible powers committed to international law and the rules deriving from it,” the Greek Prime Minister’s Press Office said.
Finally, Mitsotakis reiterated Greece’s firm support for a just and viable solution to the Cyprus problem.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
Source: Cyprus News Agency
President of the Republic Nicos Anastasiades has expressed his gratitude to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for his firm support to the positions of principle on the Cyprus issue.
“My friend Kyriakos, I thank you for our excellent cooperation in all matters, but above all for your firm support for the principled positions on the Cyprus issue,” the President said on his twitter account.
The Greek Prime Minister and his wife Mareva Grabowski-Mitsotakis hosted a lunch on Tuesday for President Anastasiades and his wife Andri Anastasiades in Athens.
Earlier on, Mitsotakis published a photograph of the meeting on his twitter account saying “Dear friend Nikos, I want to thank you once again for our many years of close cooperation, both at the bilateral level and at the level of the European Union”
Source: Cyprus News Agency
The EU’s Health Security Committee (HSC) agreed on Tuesday to promote a coordinated approach to the rise in coronavirus cases in China.
In its conclusions, it says that all member states agreed on a coordinated approach to the changing COVID-19 situation in China and the implications of increased travel from China to Europe at the meeting of the Health Security Committee and that the overwhelming majority of countries are in favour of pre-departure testing.
It is added that the Commission prepared a draft HSC opinion to steer Tuesday’s discussion, and this will now be revised and adopted based on the input of Member States in the meeting. A further discussion will take place in the IPCR on Wednesday, taking into account the input of the HSC.
The draft HSC opinion proposes measures on: personal hygiene and health measures for travellers (including recommended mask wearing on flights from China), wastewater monitoring for aircrafts, genomic surveillance at airports and increased monitoring and sequencing, increased EU vigilance on testing and vaccination, a discussion on the need for pre-testing of passengers from China prior to departure.
“These measures would need to be targeted at the most appropriate flights and airports and carried out in a coordinated way to ensure their effectiveness. The Commission will publish the Opinion once it is approved” it concludes.
Meanwhile, EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said in a tweet that “today Health Security Committee converged on action including: Pre-departure testing for travelers from China, stepped up wastewater monitoring, increased domestic surveillance”.
She added that discussion continues on Wednesday in the IPCR and that “unity remains our strongest tool against COVID”.
Source: Cyprus News Agency