Day: March 2, 2023

Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides, said that efforts for the solution of the Cyprus problem will not cease, despite Turkey’s intransigence, noting that the Government invests particularly in the EU and that a document for its involvement in the Cyprus issue has been prepared.

President Christodoulides was speaking to members of the press, on Thursday, after having visited the graves of EOKA fighters in the Central Prison, known as the Imprisoned Graves but also the Makedonitissa military cemetery where people who were killed during the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus are buried, where he laid wreaths.

He noted that he chose to visit these two places to honour those who fought so that the Republic of Cyprus can exist today. He said this was “a due tribute”, while noting that, these people’s effort for independence, for freedom, and for guaranteeing that the territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus continues today.

Asked about the next moves as regards the Cyprus problem, he said that, the Government’s effort is focused on breaking the deadlock and that, they would not just “sit idly by” because the Turkish side exhibits intransigence.

He emphasised that the Government invests particularly in the EU, expressing the belief that, “the EU, through a leading role, always within the UN framework, can create those conditions so that all parties involved understand the benefits that will arise through the solution of the Cyprus problem.”

President Christodoulides also referred to the European Council that will be held on March 23 in Brussels noting that he will have the opportunity to speak with the UN Secretary-General, but also the Presidents of the three EU institutions, and other European leaders and that the Government has prepared a plan on the EU involvement, and he will share it with some of the European leaders, “so that we can work towards breaking the impasse”.

He also added that “we should not wait for the Turkish elections, we should not waste time”, given the uncertainty in the country following the deadly earthquakes.

The President also reiterated that the current state of affairs “in no circumstances can be the solution to the Cyprus problem”, noting that one third of the country is under occupation. “We will do everything possible, precisely, to break the impasse and lead us to the longed-for reunification of our homeland”, he added.

He said that the message sent both, within the country and internationally, is that “the future of Cyprus cannot be what we are experiencing today.”

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

An attempted cyber attack against the University of Cyprus, which took place in the early hours of Thursday, was foiled by competent authorities without being able to cause any damage, according to a first estimate, as University services were able to cut off the system and prevent the “worst case scenario” from materialising.

Speaking to CNA, University of Cyprus Rector, Tasos Christofides, confirmed the information regarding the cyber attack against the University. “There was an attack. Luckily we were able to preempt it, so no big damage was done. We are trying to restore the systems”, he told CNA.

The Rector stated that it appears that it was “an organised attack that takes place in many universities, in Israel mainly, and in hospitals. Usually these people have some goals, to extort for ransom”. He noted that the University of Cyprus received no demand for ransom.

Christos Charalambous, Head of the University’s IT Infrastructure Service told CNA that in the early hours of the morning an unauthorized access to non-critical systems that were not upgraded was detected. It was “suspicious traffic”, he said, that could lead to malicious damage, and so “we isolated the University” to protect critical systems.

Charalambous noted that all checks were done and at first glance no damage was found. “You can’t be 100% sure. A secure system is only a switched off system”, he said, adding that access has already been restored internally, the wireless network was connected to the internet, while some services, such as email, telephony and some cloud services were not interrupted. External access to the University’s website is still not possible, however, Charalambous said that it is expected to be restored within the next few hours.

The head of the ?? Infrastructure Service also said they had worked with the Digital Security Authority, whose input had been “very helpful”.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the President of the Republic of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides had a telephone conversation on Thursday, on the fatal train accident in Tempi, Greece.

President Christodoulides expressed to the Greek Prime Minister his condolences over the tragedy in Tempi, as well as the solidarity of the Republic of Cyprus to Greece and the Greek people.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Nikos Christodoulides also discussed the progress of the search for missing persons, including two Cypriot citizens.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Cypriot MPs Andreas Pasiourtides and Rita Theodorou Superman participate in the 17th annual plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean that began on Wednesday in Rabat, Morocco.

According to a House press release, in an intervention during a discussion for a report of the Committee on Financial, Social and Environmental Cooperation, about the repercussions of the climate change and the results of COP27, Superman expressed deep sorrow and shock for the train crash in Tempi, Greece, that claimed so many lives, and expressed Cyprus’ sincere condolences for the victims of the destructive earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, noting the tangible solidarity of Cyprus with those affected.

As regards the repercussions of climate change, Superman noted the multiple environmental pressures on the Mediterranean region. Moreover she referred to the initiative of the Republic of Cyprus to coordinate the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East states to address the repercussions of climate change in the region.

She also noted that in the framework of this initiative, an international network of distinguished scientists has prepared a Regional Action Plan, under the coordination of the Cyprus Institute.

The conclusions and the recommendations of the Regional Action Plan must be taken into consideration by the governments of the states in the region to address concrete challenges of climate change, the Cypriot MP stressed.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 8.5% in February 2023, down from 8.6% in January according to a flash estimate from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

In Cyprus, annual inflation is estimated at 6.7% in February, down from 6.8% in January.

Looking at the main components of euro area inflation, food, alcohol & tobacco is expected to have the highest annual rate in February (15.0%, compared with 14.1% in January), followed by energy (13.7%, compared with 18.9% in January), non-energy industrial goods (6.8%, compared with 6.7% in January) and services (4.8%, compared with 4.4% in January).

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Another 14 vultures arrived in Cyprus from Spain on Thursday last week as part of a population boosting action under The LIFE with Vultures project team.

In a press release, BirdLife Cyprus, the Game and Fauna Service, the Vulture Conservation Foundation and Terra Cypria said the arrival of the vultures is part of The Life with Vultures project and aims to introduce and release the vultures on the island which has an extremely reduced Cypriot population.

The 14 vultures were placed in special, spacious aviary in the Limassol district where they will remain for 5-6 months in order to acclimatize to the local conditions before being released into the wild, where they belong. The Game and Fauna Service will fit GPS transmitters on all birds when they are released to enable the project team to later track their movements and condition or to intervene if they are in danger.

Regarding the vultures released last September, the data on their movements, recorded through satellite transmitters, show that the birds have successfully integrated into the local population, use feeding stations and regularly visit important locations within the known range of the species. However, there were two losses in the first few days after the release, which to some extent was expected to happen due to their young age.

The introduction of birds from other regions to enhance and conserve threatened species is an accepted and widespread practice worldwide. Due to the extremely low number of vultures currently present in Cyprus, the slow reproductive rate of the species, and frequent poisoning incidents from baits, the population of vultures in Cyprus cannot recover without human intervention.

It is predicted that the Cypriot population will disappear within the next 15 years if targeted conservation actions, such as addressing the use of poisoned baits – the most serious threat to the species – and introducing birds from another country are not implemented.

The introduction of the vultures was done from Spain, as the country hosts 90-95% of Europe’s vultures, with the population of the Cinereous Vulture numbering 30,000 pairs. The birds selected for transport to Cyprus were young individuals that hatched in Spain and ended up at the AMUS wildlife hospital due to injury or weakness. After receiving care and fully recovering, they were chosen for the population enhancement program in Cyprus.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

In January 2023, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Cyprus remained stable at 7.4% compared with December 2022, after having increased from November when it had been at 7.3%, according to figures published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

In January, the euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 6.7%, stable compared with December 2022 and down from 6.9% in January 2022. The EU unemployment rate was 6.1% in January 2023, also stable compared with December 2022 and down from 6.3% in January 2022.

The unemployment rate in Cyprus had increased in November to 7.3%, compared to 6.9 in October and 6.0% in January 2022.

Eurostat estimates that 13,227 million persons in the EU, of whom 11,288 million in the euro area, were unemployed in January 2023. Compared with January 2022, unemployment decreased by 318 thousand in the EU and by 220 thousand in the euro area.

In Cyprus, 36 thousand people were unemployed in January 2023, having increased by 7 thousand compared with January 2023 (29 thousand).

In January 2023, 2,781 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU, of whom 2,286 million were in the euro area.

In January 2023, the youth unemployment rate was 14.4% in the EU and in the euro area, respectively down from 14.5% and up from 14.3% in the previous month.

Compared with January 2022, youth unemployment increased by 116 thousand in the EU and by 112 thousand in the euro area.

There are no update data on youth unemployment in Cyprus for January 2023. The youth unemployment rate was at 18.7% in December, corresponding to 8 thousand people in absolute numbers.

By sex, in January 2023, the unemployment rate for women was 6.5% in the EU, stable compared with December 2022. The unemployment rate for men was 5.7% in January 2023, down from 5.8% in the previous month.

In the euro area, the unemployment rate for women was 7.2%, up from 7.1% in December 2022. The unemployment rate for men was 6.2%, down from 6.3% in the previous month.

In Cyprus, the unemployment rate for women was 8.7%, remaining stable compared with December. The unemployment rate for men was 6.1%, down from 6.2% the previous month.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

High concentrations of dust continue to be observed in the air on Thursday, according to measurements from ground Stations of the Air Quality Monitoring Network operated by the Department of Labour Inspection.

In a press release, the Department urges the public, and particularly any vulnerable groups of population (children, older people, and the infirm) to avoid circulating in open spaces until the observed episode has elapsed, as the small size of respirable particles in dust may have negative effects on human health.

Employers must take appropriate measures (organizational and/or technical) after assessing any risks that their employees may face while working in open spaces, and it is recommended that workers in such spaces use appropriate means of personal protection.

In detail, the latest hourly dust concentrations measured at 7:00 am in the following areas are:

Nicosia: 69.2 µg/m3

Limassol: 65.8 µg/m3

Larnaca: 63.5 µg/m3

Paralimni: 64.1 µg/m3

Paphos: 56.3 µg/m3

Zygi: 46.7 µg/m3

Ayia Marina Xyliatou: 42.4 µg/m3

It is noted that ‘dust’ refers to respirable particulate matter of a diameter smaller than 10 µm (PM10) in the air. According to the relevant legislation, a limit value not to be exceeded is set for the daily average concentrations at 50 µg/m3 (micrograms per cubic meter).

More information on the measured pollutant concentrations and real-time updates is available online at www.airquality.gov.cy, and also through the free mobile application ‘Air Quality Cyprus’.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The new Minister of Foreign Affairs Constantinos Kombos had his first meeting after taking office on Wednesday with ambassador of Greece in Nicosia Ioannis Papameletiou.

According to a post on the Foreign Ministry’s Twitter account, Kombos met with Greek Ambassador Ioannis Papameletiou, to whom he expressed his condolences for the tragic accident in Tempi, followed by an exchange of views on issues on the national, European and regional agenda of the two countries.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The unthinkable tragedy of the train collision in Greece is a message for all governments including the government in Cyprus, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Thursday.

President Christodoulides was replying to a question on the sidelines of a visit at the graves of Greek Cypriots hung by the British during the 1955 – 59 anti-colonial struggle, known as the Imprisoned Graves.

Asked comment on the accident in Greece, which also involves two Cypriot passengers who are still among the missing President Christodoulides said that all governments should take necessary preventive measures to avoid tragic events such as this train crash. He also noted that, according to the information he has received, the crash was due to human error.

He also spoke of the two missing Cypriot passengers of the train, saying that the government is in touch with their families. He said that the Minister of Foreign Affairs spoke with the families yesterday, while the Embassy in Athens and the Consulate in Thessaloniki are with them.

“We will keep following up with the situation and we are hopeful that we will have some news soon”, he concluded.

Source: Cyprus News Agency