Day: March 8, 2023

Cypriot citizen Evgenios Staroselskiy, is set to begin his attempt next June, to conquer the most demanding peak in the world, mountain K2 in Pakistan and raise the Cyprus flag on it.

With the support of the Cyprus Olympic Committee (COC) and the Cyprus Mountaineering Climbing and Orienteering Federation, Staroselskiy is preparing to achieve something that only 500 climbers in the world have achieved, as the conquest of K2 at a height of 8611 meters in the Karakorum Mountains (Pakistan) is the second highest in the planet, but the hardest and most dangerous peak in the world.

As he said at a press conference in Nicosia, Staroselskiy will take part in the ascent of K2 as part of an international expedition and his goal is to raise the flag of the Republic of Cyprus at the top and shout out to the world ‘the power of the small island and its amazing people, who know how to dream and can win’.

As pointed out at the press conference Staroselskiy is a member of the Mountaineering Federation and head of the National programme ‘Flag of the Republic of Cyprus on the highest peaks of the world’, while he also holds the title ‘Snow Leopard’. The programme is under the auspices of the President of the Republic of Cyprus and supported by the COC and the Mountaineering Federation.

He has already raised the flag of the Republic of Cyprus on hundreds of the most difficult peaks on the planet, including 6 of the 7 most famous.

In particular, he has conquered Everest (8848 m.). Only two representatives from Cyprus managed to reach this peak, in 2012 Giorgos Andreou from the South side, and in 2019 Staroselskiy, with a more difficult route from the North side of Tibet.

He has also placed the Cypriot flag on Aconcagua in Argentina (6962m), on Denali (6194m), Kilimanjaro (5895 m), and on Elbrus (5642m).

On January 3, 2023, Cypriot team members Staroselskiy and Viktoria Polevaya raised the flag of the Republic of Cyprus on the summit of Mount Vinson (4892 m) in Antarctica, becoming the first Cypriot citizens to climb the most remote and coldest peak of the ‘7 Summits’ programme.

To complete the ‘7 Summits’ and ‘Flag of the Republic of Cyprus on the highest peaks of the world’ programmes, only one peak remains, that of the Carstensz Pyramid (4884 m). It is the highest mountain in Oceania, located in Papua. Eugene plans to conquer it in 2023 and become the first Cypriot, who will raise the flag of the Republic of Cyprus on the mountain tops of all continents.

At the conference, Staroselskiy thanked the COC and the Federation for their support, while, asked about his feelings at the time of placing the Cypriot flag on a peak, he said that Cyprus has given him a lot since 2011 when he moved to the island, and that this was his own way of returning the love and all that the country has offered him and continues to offer to him.

Source Cyprus News Agency

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Today, the Council of the European Union has adopted the Commission’s proposal to give notified bodies and manufacturers more time to certify medical devices and thereby mitigate the risk of shortages. This follows the positive vote by the European Parliament last month. The legislative proposal provides a longer transition period to adapt to new rules foreseen under the Medical Devices Regulation, ensuring continued access to medical devices for patients in need.

Welcoming the adoption by the Council, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides, said

‘I would like to express my gratitude to the European Parliament, the Council, and the Swedish Presidency in particular for swiftly agreeing on our proposal to extend the transitional periods of the Medical Devices Regulation. This is an important step that will help address the short-term difficulties Member States are facing and ensure a continued access to needed medical devices for patients in the EU.

This revised timeline will provide more flexibility to industry for the ongoing certification of needed medical devices and reduce short-term risks of shortages. This will ensure access for patients most in need without jeopardising their safety. It is important to recall that only devices that are safe and for which manufacturers have already taken steps to transition to the Medical Devices Regulation can benefit from this additional time. Patient safety will always be paramount.

The Commission, together with Member States, notified bodies and the medical industry will continue to work on additional measures to address the structural problems and identify medium and long-term solutions. Ensuring the transition to the new Regulations must be our collective priority to safeguard patient safety and foster innovation in Europe.’

Next steps

Following today’s adoption by the Council, the proposed amendment to the Medical Devices Regulation is expected to be formally adopted by both the European Parliament and the Council on 15 March 2023. Shortly after, it will be published in the Official Journal and enter into force on the day of its publication.

The Commission will work together with Member States and all stakeholders to provide the necessary support to implement this legislative amendment.

Background

The Medical Devices Regulation has been applicable since 26 May 2021. It provides for a transition period until 26 May 2024. The transition to the new Regulation has been slower than anticipated and healthcare systems in the EU are facing a risk of shortages.

At the EPSCO Council on 9 December 2022, EU Health Ministers called on the Commission to swiftly submit a proposal to extend the transition period in the Medical Devices Regulation. The Commission submitted a proposal on 6 January 2023, which was negotiated by the European Parliament and the Council in an urgency procedure.

For More Information

Proposal for a Regulation amending Regulation 2017745

Factsheet on the European Health Union Supporting the transition to the new medical device framework

Questions and Answers

Medical devices – new Regulations

Print friendly pdf

Council vote on the Medical Device Regulation extension

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Press contact

• Stefan DE KEERSMAECKER

Phone

+32 2 298 46 80

Mail

stefan.de-keersmaecker@ec.europa.eu

• Célia DEJOND

Phone

+32 2 298 81 99

Mail

celia.dejond@ec.europa.eu

Security Union The renewed Schengen Information Systems enters into operation

Today, the upgraded Schengen Information System (SIS) enters into operation. SIS is the largest information sharing system for security and border management in Europe. It provides information on wanted or missing persons, third-country nationals with no legal right to stay in the Union and lost or stolen objects (for example cars, firearms, boats and identity documents).

The renewed SIS is the foundation of the most advanced border management system in the world that we are building. Together with the EntryExit System (EES) and the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), SIS will be part of the interoperability architecture.

The renewed SIS is being enhanced to include new categories of alerts, biometrics such as palm prints, fingermarks, and DNA records for missing persons, and additional tools to combat crime and terrorism. The upgrade is important as it will also allow for preventive alerts to protect vulnerable persons and deter irregular migration. These upgrades aim to provide national authorities with more complete and reliable information to enhance security and border management in Europe.

The upgraded features include

Enhanced information sharing and cooperation New categories of alerts and more data will be shared through SIS, ensuring that more complete and more reliable information is available to the national authorities. Clearer rules and improved structures have been introduced for the exchange of information through the national contact points (SIRENE Offices).

New possibilities to locate and identify persons sought and strengthen external border controls In addition to photographs and fingerprints, SIS will contain new types of biometrics (such as palm prints, fingermarks and palmmarks, as well as DNA records – but only in relation to missing persons) and other information to locate and identify people registered in the system.

Additional tools to combat criminality and terrorism New inquiry check alerts will allow national authorities to collect targeted information on suspects of serious crime or terrorism. For example, identification documents, information about the car that they are using will be stored in SIS. There will be alerts on ‘unknown wanted persons’, containing only the prints of unknown perpetrators that are discovered at the scenes of terrorist offences or serious crimes.

Additional tools to protect missing and vulnerable persons National authorities will be able to issue preventive alerts in the system to protect certain categories of vulnerable persons (children at risk of abduction or potential victims of terrorism, trafficking in human beings, gender-based violence, or armed conflicthostilities), in addition to existing alerts on missing persons.

Additional tools to prevent and deter irregular migration Return decisions will be part of the information shared in the system to improve the effective enforcement of these decisions. Member States will be required to create an alert in SIS each time they issue a return decision on a third-country national with no legal right to stay in the EU, allowing them to actively follow up whether the returnee effectively leaves the EU territory. It will pave the way for mutual recognition of return decisions between Member States, as proposed by President von der Leyen in her letter with targeted actions ahead of the February European Council.

Enhanced use of SIS by EU Agencies Europol and national immigration authorities now have access to all alert categories in SIS. The European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) operational teams have been granted access to SIS (implementation is still ongoing).

SIS has strict requirements on data quality and data protection. The system only contains data on people and objects wanted in EU countries and Schengen associated countries. National authorities supervise the application of the data protection rules in their respective countries, while the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) monitors how the data protection rules are being applied in the central system managed by eu-LISA.

Next Steps

As of today, the renewed SIS is operational in 30 countries throughout Europe (26 EU Member States and the Schengen associated countries). The connection of Cyprus to SIS in summer 2023 will further extend security cooperation throughout the entire Union.

Background

SIS was created in 1995 following the abolition of internal border controls in the EU. The 2016 evaluation of SIS confirmed the outstanding success of the system. But it also identified opportunities to further enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of SIS, to better tackle increasingly complex security challenges.

The Commission tabled three proposals to strengthen cooperation between the Member States making use of the Schengen Information System (SIS) on 21 December 2016. On 12 June 2018, the co-legislators, the European Parliament and the Council reached political agreement on all three proposals. The three agreed Regulations (available here, here and here) were adopted on 28 November 2018.

The legal and technical preparations for the implementation of the new SIS started in 2019 and continued until 2021. During 2022, the national and central systems were thoroughly checked in close cooperation between eu-LISA (the EU agency in charge of the operation of the central competent of SIS) and the Member States (in charge of the national components of SIS). The legal conditions for the start of operation were completed in January 2023 and on 31 January 2023, the decision of the start of operation was published by the Commission.

For More Information

Factsheet

DG HOME website – Schengen Information System

eu-LISA – European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice

Press Release – Security Union Commission proposes to reinforce the Schengen Information System to better fight terrorism and cross-border crime

Press Release – Security Union Commission welcomes agreement on a reinforced Schengen Information System

Quote(s)

The start of operation of the renewed SIS marks a clear step forward in the management of our external borders and our common Schengen Area. It is a key milestone in making Europe a safer place for its citizens.

Ylva Johansson, Commissioner for Home Affairs – 07032023

Print friendly pdf

The renewed Schengen Information Systems

English (42.218 kB – PDF)

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Press contact

• Anitta HIPPER

Phone

+32 2 298 56 91

Mail

anitta.hipper@ec.europa.eu

• Fiorella BELCIU

Phone

+32 2 299 37 34

Mail

Fiorella.BELCIU@ec.europa.eu

• Andrea MASINI

Phone

+32 2 299 15 19

Mail

andrea.masini@ec.europa.eu

EU-UN cooperation EU announces support to the UN reform for more efficiency in partner countries

Today, at the UN Conference on Least developed countries (LDCs) in Doha, the EU announced its renewed support to the UN Resident Coordinator System, a key pillar of the UN development system reform, with a contribution of pound 17 million for 2022 and 2023. The UN Resident Coordinator System aims to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of UN actions at country level through dedicated UN Resident Coordinators. They act as key interlocutor for partners and international donors, including the EU, thus ensuring more effective and efficient coordination.

Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, said ‘The EU is a steadfast supporter of the UN Development reform. In this time of multiple global challenges, the most effective way to deliver results on the ground for the LDCs and our other partners is multilateral cooperation and coordination. We champion renewed and more effective multilateralism.’

The EU’s support will benefit the cooperation and dialogue between the EU and UN when building programmes with and in partner countries, in the framework of the EU’s Global Gateway strategy, and in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. Better coordination and dialogue between the EU and the UN also enables to show to third country partners the strength of a coordinated and democratic offer.

The present contribution confirms the EU’s longstanding support to the UN reform process, expressed both politically and financially through contributions to the UN Residents Coordinator System and the UN Joint SDG Fund with a total of pound 74 million since 2019.

More information is available in the web release here.

(For more information Ana Pisonero Hernandez – Tel. +32 2 295 43 20; Jennifer Sanchez Da Silva – Tel. +32 2 295 83 16)

European Education Area 16 new Erasmus+ Teacher Academies will promote excellence in teacher education

Today, the Commission presents 16 new Erasmus+ Teacher Academies, which will provide teachers at all stages of their careers with learning opportunities that include mobility, learning platforms and professional communities. These Erasmus+ Teacher Academies will benefit from close to pound 22.5 million from the Erasmus+ budget over three years. The 16 new Academies, together with the 11 already funded under the first call for proposals last year, will embrace multilingualism, language awareness and cultural diversity, as they develop teacher education in line with the EU’s priorities in education policy and contribute to the achievement of the European Education Area, the EU’s vision for the education and training sector.

Vice-President for Promoting our European Way of Life, Margaritis Schinas said ‘A teacher who keeps learning will pass on the newly acquired knowledge to hisher students. With the new learning opportunities we are providing today, we are enriching both teachers and learners; yet another concrete step towards the European Education Area.’

At the Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council this morning, the Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, said ‘The shortage of teachers is an EU-wide challenge to be addressed at EU level. Therefore, we are putting in place comprehensive initiatives to make the profession more attractive. Erasmus+ Teacher Academies will support our efforts to ensure high-quality initial education and continuous professional development for all teachers, educators and school leaders. We had set ourselves the goal of establishing 25 such academies by 2025. Today, we are already at 27. The success speaks for itself!’

Erasmus+ Teacher Academies are partnerships between teacher training providers and teacher education institutions that will develop a European and international outlook in teacher education. The topics covered by the projects include skills related to science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics, creativity, inclusion, and environmental sustainability. As part of the 2022 call for proposals, the selected projects include 313 organisations, as well as 136 associated partners, from 30 countries (EU Member States and countries associated to Erasmus+). Among the participating organisations there are initial teacher education providers, continuing professional development providers, practice training schools, and other organisations with relevant expertise. More information is available online.

(For more information Sonya Gospodinova – Tel. +32 2 296 69 53; Federica Miccoli – Tel. +32 2 295 83 00)

Agriculture Record value of EU agri-food trade in November 2022

The Commission has today published the latest monthly agri-food trade report, which shows that the monthly EU trade flows of agricultural and food products reached a new record value of pound 36.9 billion in November 2022. Since the beginning of 2022, EU agri-food trade reached a total of pound 369 billion, which represents a 23% increase compared to the same period in 2021 (Jan-Nov). This can be explained by an increase of the value of both EU agri-food exports and imports, by 17% and 34% respectively. In the same period, the EU trade balance stands at pound 53.5 billion.

Compared to October 2022, EU agri-food exports slightly increased compared to the previous month, to reach pound 21.2 billion, a 2% increase. From January to November 2022, EU agri-food exports reached pound 211 billion. When looking at specific sectors, the data confirm the higher EU exports of wheat from January to November 2022. The two main destinations for EU products are the United Kingdom and the United States. EU exports of pigmeat, cereals and vegetable oils to China decreased in the same period, while EU exports to Russia declined significantly both in quantity and value terms for a range of sectors.

EU imports of agriculture and food products remained quite stable in November 2022 compared with the previous month. However, due to higher food prices on the global markets, the value of EU imports increased and reached pound 157 billion in the 11 months of 2022. The three main origin countries exporting agri-food products to the EU are Brazil, the UK and Ukraine. The biggest increases over the year 2022 were recorded for imports of primary commodities, such as maize (+9 million tonnes), soya cake (+737 thousand tonnes), and rapeseed (+1.3 million tonnes).

The latest monthly agri-food trade report also features a special focus on the evolution of production and consumption of poultry and beef from 1961 to 2019 across Europe, Central Asia, Asia-Oceania, Africa and the Americas.

More insights as well as detailed tables are available in a news item online.

(For more information Miriam Garcia Ferrer – Tel. +32 2 299 90 75; Thérèse Lerebours – Tel. +32 2 296 33 03)

International Women’s Day EU takes landmark decisions, but women’s rights are under attack globally

Ahead of International Women’s Day, the European Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy made the following statement

‘The growing oppression globally on women and girls and attacks on their human rights are alarming. We stand by women in Iran, whose freedoms are systematically restricted; and those in Afghanistan, where the Taliban are trying to erase women and girls’ presence from public space, as well as everywhere else in the world where women’s fundamental rights and freedoms are being threatened or denied.

We are also deeply concerned about the reports that Russian Armed Forces use sexual violence against women and children in Ukraine as a weapon of war. These actions constitute war crimes and the perpetrators must be brought to justice. We will continue to work with our international partners to make Russia pay for these atrocities.

To strengthen global accountability, the EU has just adopted a package of sanctions against perpetrators of sexual and gender-based violence.

There is also good news. The EU has taken landmark decisions to ensure that women in the EU have the same opportunities as men. For instance, with the new EU rules on gender balance on corporate boards or pay transparency. We also want to set EU-wide rules to combat violence against women and domestic violence.’

The full statement is available online.

(For more information Christian Wigand – Tel. +32 2 296 22 53; Katarzyna Kolanko – Tel. +32 2 296 34 44)

CALENDAR

Wednesday 8 March

Mr Margaritis Schinas receives students from the Diplomatic Academy of Greece; delivers a keynote speech at the Masters of Digital 2023.

Thursday 9 March 3

Mr Margaritis Schinas co-chairs the EPP Ministers of Interior meeting.

Ms Stella Kyriakides in Nicosia, Cyprus (until 1003) delivers an opening speech on the role of women in sport at an Event organised by the Cyprus Olympic Committee.

Friday 10 March

Ms Stella Kyriakides in Nicosia, Cyprus meets with Mr Nikos Christodoulides, President of the Republic of Cyprus; meets with Mr Konstantinos Kompos, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus; meets with Ms Popi Kanari, Health Minister of Cyprus; meets with Mr Petros Xenofontos, Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment Minister of Cyprus.

The European Commission is committed to personal data protection. Any personal data is processed in line with Regulation (EC) 20181725. All personal information processed by the Directorate-General for Communication European Commission Representations is treated accordingly.

Source Cyprus News Agency

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Hate speech affecting several groups remains widespread in the Cypriot public discourse, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) said on Tuesday in report on Cyprus. The Commission, established by the Council of Europe, is an independent human rights monitoring body specialised in questions relating to the fight against racism, discrimination (on grounds of ‘race’, ethnicnational origin, colour, citizenship, religion, language, sexual orientation and gender identity), xenophobia, antisemitism and intolerance.

The Commission made fifteen recommendations to the Cypriot authorities in this report, noting at the same time that since the adoption of its fifth report on Cyprus on 17 March 2016, progress has been made and good practices have been developed in a number of fields. ‘ECRI welcomes these positive developments in Cyprus. However, despite the progress achieved, some issues give rise to concern,’ the Commission underlined.

Recommendations

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In its report, ECRI requests that the authorities take action in a number of areas and makes a series of recommendations. The Commission says that measures should be taken to ensure the effective implementation by school managements of existing anti-racist policies developed by the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth (MOESY).

The Cypriot authorities should prepare a national LGBTI strategy, accompanied by a national action plan, with enhanced action against hate speech against LGBTI persons, among its central elements, it is added.

Moreover, ECRI says that the authorities should furthermore address a number of long-standing gaps in the implementation of criminal legislation to combat hate speech and hate-motivated violence.

The authorities, it notes, should inter alia review the criminal legislation pertaining to hate speech and hate-motivated violence, including remedies available to victims, and provide suitable training to police officers, prosecutors and judges on the use of appropriate criminal provisions on combating hate speech and hate-motivated violence.

Moreover ECRI urges for expedited action to support child asylum seekers and other migrant children in acquiring the Greek language skills they need to follow ordinary primary school classes taught in Greek, measures which should be accompanied by individual skills assessments to determine the most appropriate school grade to place such children in.

It also says that appropriately funded policies specific to supporting Roma in the areas of education, health care, housing and employment should be developed. The registration rules introduced for NGOs in the reporting period should be reviewed in order to ensure that NGOs are not prevented from providing much needed support to asylum seekers and other migrants.

Progress achieved

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As regards the progress achieved, the Commission said that in line with a recommendation in its fifth report, the Ombudsman institution was authorised in 2019 to organise its own recruitment examinations for hiring new staff.

As it is noted, the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth (MOESY) developed a 2018-2022 National Strategy for Preventing and Combating School Violence, in addition to which the Cyprus Observatory on School Violence of the Cyprus Pedagogical Institute has been developing and implementing actions and programmes aiming at preventing and addressing bullying and violence in schools, while also promoting and monitoring the implementation of the MOESY’s anti-bullying policy, introduced in 2020.

In February 2021, the Code of Principles and Ethics for Members of Parliament entered into force. It inter alia prohibits hate speech, incitement to violence and sexistracist behaviour by MPs in the performance of their duties.

Further welcome steps were that the Ministry of the Interior in August 2019 made the change of names and gender in official documents easier, including for transgender people, while all restrictions linked to sexual orientation in the context of donating blood were lifted in April 2022. In further positive developments, the procedures for employing asylum seekers were made significantly easier as of October 2021, while the range of sectors in which they are allowed to work was extended already in 2019, the Commission said.

ECRI was also pleased to note during its visit to the Agios Antonios Primary School in Limassol that Roma pupils appear to be receiving considerable empowerment in their learning of Kurbetcha while significant efforts have been made to minimise the impact on Roma pupils of the restrictions related to the COVID-19 sanitary crisis, including through the provision of tablets and internet access to all Roma pupils involved in online education. ‘ECRI welcomes these positive developments in Cyprus,’ the report noted.

Issues of concern

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However, despite the progress achieved, some issues give rise to concern, it is added.

More concretely, it says that the Ombudsman institution, which is the only equality body in Cyprus, still does not have the competence to initiate or participate in court proceedings on behalf of victims of discrimination or intolerance.

ECRI is also concerned about Orthodox confessions reportedly being organised in schools without the consent of pupils or their parents, and with disregard to their views on religion, which, it says, cannot be considered as conducive to inclusive education.

ECRI said it regrets that so-called firewalls are not in place in all main policy areas relevant to the human rights of irregularly present migrants and that any procedures involving such migrants in labour tribunals are likely to lead to their deportation.

ECRI also finds the reported practices of subjecting some gay and lesbian people to so-called conversion therapies a matter of serious concern.

‘Hate speech affecting several groups of concern to ECRI remains widespread in the Cypriot public discourse. There is no comprehensive system in place to monitor hate speech incidents. In addition, instances of firm and prompt condemnation of racist and other forms of hate speech and counter-speech by public figures remain sporadic,’ it is noted.

According to the report, ‘the fact that child applicants for international protection who are of primary school age are usually placed in ordinary school classes based on their age, with disregard to their previously acquired skills in central school subjects and without preparatory Greek language classes is a major obstacle to their integration and achievements in school.’

Moreover, it is noted that ‘despite the commendable work of many NGOs, especially but not limited to those in support of migrants in Cyprus, their possibilities to provide such support have been put at risk by new registration rules introduced in 2017.’

The report also includes an appendix with the viewpoint of relevant Cypriot authorities.

Source Cyprus News Agency

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Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides will propose specific political figures from EU member states, some of whom he has already been in contact with, to the President of the European Council in regards to his proposal for increased EU involvement in the Cyprus issue.

During a visit to Limassol General Hospital on Tuesday, President Christodoulides was asked about his recent conversation with Charles Michel.

President Christodoulides said the President of the European Council sees the further involvement of the EU in efforts to resolve the issue positively.

However, he said it was not right to speak on Michel’s behalf but based on their discussion, the latter sees the further EU involvement to break the current deadlock and restart negotiations positively.

He said they agreed for him to travel to Brussels a day earlier before the European Council, on 23 March, to discuss the issue with Michel and ‘more specifically our approach’. He also said he will discuss this with the President of the European Commission and the European Parliament President.

Therefore, ‘there will be a specific discussion, we have some ideas’ adding he had the chance to discuss them and give examples as to how the EU can help break the deadlock.

President Christodoulides said he knows the Cyprus problem well and ‘things are not easy, certainly they are difficult. However, he added, we cannot stop efforts or hide behind Turkish intransigence.

Asked if optimism is allowed, the President replied ‘what is allowed is to fight, an effort to build optimism.’

Replying to a question as to whether he will propose names to Michel, the President said Yes, I have specific names in mind, some of which I have discussed with him, and if I see the political will, I will refer to particular names.

Responding to a related question, he said that these individuals come from EU member states, and when asked to clarify, he replied they are political personalities from the European arena.’

Regarding the visit of the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, the President of the Republic said that he looks forward to meeting with her, adding that I consider it positive that she is coming to Cyprus, especially before the European Council.’

He also emphasised that our efforts within the EU always take place within the framework of the UN, and I want to make this clear so that there is no doubt about this particular issue.’

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and occupied the island’s northern third. 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

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Medidata, a Dassault Systèmes company, today announced that Allucent, a contract research organization (CRO) bringing innovation to biopharma companies, is expanding the global use of Medidata’s Clinical Cloud to advance its end-to-end clinical trial operations offering.

The agreement expands Allucent’s existing utilization of Medidata technologies. These include Rave EDC, eCOA, RTSM, and Rave Imaging, in support of critical areas of development, including oncology, rare and orphan indications, and cell and gene therapies. As part of this agreement, Allucent’s team also achieved 100% Rave EDC certification, reinforcing their commitment to quality, and providing their clients with best-in-class technology.

Our partnership with Medidata allows us to continue to bring our customers the level of patient focus and insights they need and expect,’ said Emily Moore, president of Biometrics at Allucent. ‘Making the Medidata Clinical Cloud platform available to our clients was an important step to enabling us to accelerate clinical trial development for our customers – small and mid-sized biotech companies.’

‘Allucent is leveraging the power of the Medidata Clinical Cloud to solidify their position at the forefront of clinical technology,’ said Janet Butler, head of Global Sales at Medidata. ‘Their work with novel therapies requires agile, patient-centric solutions. We are proud to build on our eight-year collaboration to advance the digital transformation of life sciences and deliver clinical innovations to help reach their goals.’

Allucent, a sponsor of Medidata NEXT London, will make a presentation on data analytics for early phase oncology trials. This includes how working with Medidata has helped them apply strategies and visualization techniques to extract the full value of information for all stakeholders.

Medidata is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dassault Systèmes, which with its 3DEXPERIENCE platform is positioned to lead the digital transformation of life sciences in the age of personalized medicine with the first end-to-end scientific and business platform, from research to commercialization.

About Medidata

Medidata is leading the digital transformation of life sciences, creating hope for millions of patients. Medidata helps generate the evidence and insights to help pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device and diagnostics companies, and academic researchers accelerate value, minimize risk, and optimize outcomes. More than one million registered users across 2,100+ customers and partners access the world’s most trusted platform for clinical development, commercial, and real-world data. Medidata, a Dassault Systèmes company (Euronext Paris FR0014003TT8, DSY.PA), is headquartered in New York City and has offices around the world to meet the needs of its customers. Discover more at www.medidata.com and follow us @Medidata.

About Dassault Systèmes

Dassault Systèmes, the 3DEXPERIENCE Company, is a catalyst for human progress. We provide business and people with collaborative 3D virtual environments to imagine sustainable innovations. By creating virtual twin experiences of the real world with our 3DEXPERIENCE platform and applications, our customers push the boundaries of innovation, learning and production to achieve a more sustainable world for patients, citizens, and consumers. Dassault Systèmes brings value to more than 300,000 customers of all sizes, in all industries, in more than 140 countries. For more information, visit www.3ds.com.

3DEXPERIENCE, the Compass icon, the 3DS logo, CATIA, BIOVIA, GEOVIA, SOLIDWORKS, 3DVIA, ENOVIA, NETVIBES, MEDIDATA, CENTRIC PLM, 3DEXCITE, SIMULIA, DELMIA, and IFWE are commercial trademarks or registered trademarks of Dassault Systèmes, a French ‘société européenne’ (Versailles Commercial Register # B 322 306 440), or its subsidiaries in the United States andor other countries.

Source Cyprus News Agency

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The Chair of the delegation will speak to journalists on 8 March, at the end of three days of meetings with stakeholders and authorities.

Sophie in ‘t Veld (Renew, NL) will brief journalists on behalf of Parliament’s delegation.

When Wednesday 8 March, 1015 (Cyprus time)

Where European Parliament’s Liaison Office in Athens (Leoforos Amalias 8, Athens 105 57)

How The press conference will be webstreamed in English on Parliament’s Multimedia Centre and on Twitter. Journalists need to be physically present to ask questions. Interpretation between English and Greek will be available in the room. Media representatives who wish to attend the press conference must send an email to epathinai@europarl.europa.eu, stating their name and the media for which they work.

Background

The fact-finding mission is organised under the remit of the Committee on Civil Liberties (LIBE) and in line with the DRFMG (working group on Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights) mandate. The aim of the mission is to take stock of the new developments in the country, and to continue the DRFMG work dedicated to the situation in Greece, with special focus on the situation of the rule of law, fight against corruption and media freedom

Source Cyprus News Agency

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In 2022, since Russia launched its war of aggression against Ukraine, at least 12 journalists and media workers were killed and 21 injured while performing their professional duties, the Safety of Journalists platform 2023 report indicates.

The annual report, which was published Tuesday, says that this occurred in a context of continued degradation of press freedom across Europe, with a significant increase in the number of journalists in detention.

The platform under the Council of Europe, aims in promoting the protection of journalism and safety of journalists, a press release says.

Released under the title ‘War in Europe and the fight for the right to report’, the report examines the main threats to media freedom in Europe and addresses recommendations to the Council of Europe, European Union and the member states on actions needed to improve the situation.

Throughout 2022, the platform published 289 alerts on serious threats or attacks to media freedom across 37 states, with journalists being murdered, imprisoned, attacked, legally harassed, and subjected to smear campaigns. This number, the press release says, includes alerts concerning Russia, since the partner organisations decided to continue monitoring the state of media freedom and attacks against journalists after its expulsion from the Council of Europe in March 2022.

Welcoming the publication of the report, Secretary General Marija Pejcinovic Buric said that we have seen a ‘disturbing increase’ in attacks and threats against journalists in recent years, adding that many journalists have shown courage and others paid with their lives for the right to report following Russia’s aggression of Ukraine.

‘The fact that many of these attacks go unpunished, threatens the very foundation of our societies. I call on member states to take this issue seriously and fully respect and protect the rights of journalists, ensure their safety, protect their sources and prevent censorship and other forms of interference in their work’, she said.

The platform’s report examines in detail the crackdown on independent journalism in Russia and occupied territories in Ukraine and contains a special chapter on Belarus.

Apart from the journalists who died on active duty during the war, the platform recorded one journalist killed in the exercise of his functions – Gngör Arslan in Turkey- compared to four in 2021. There were fewer alerts concerning threats and attacks at street protests, as COVID-19 demonstrations receded.

The partner organisations conclude that arbitrary arrest and detention of journalists have become commonplace in Europe. The report shows that as of 31 December 2022, 127 journalists and media workers were in detention, including 95 on whom alerts were active on the platform (representing a 60% increase compared to 31 December 2021) and 32 journalists and media workers in Belarus, on which alerts had not yet been published.

During 2022, the platform recorded 74 alerts concerning attacks on the physical integrity of journalists (26% of all alerts), 41 alerts on the detention and imprisonment of journalists (14%), 94 alerts on cases of harassment and intimidation of journalists (32%), and another 80 alerts on various other acts having chilling effects on media freedom (28%).

Other issues examined in the report are the introduction of legislation restricting journalists’ work, surveillance of journalists’ communications, fake news and disinformation, the abuse of the judiciary to punish or intimidate journalists, Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPS), pressure on public service media and cases of media capture.

The report reflects the persistent lack of progress to resolve 35 cases of impunity of attacks against journalists still active on the platform, 26 concerning murder cases.

The Council of Europe’s Platform to promote the protection of journalism and safety of journalists was set up by the Council of Europe in 2015, in co-operation with prominent international NGOs active in the field of the freedom of expression and associations of journalists, to provide information which may serve as a basis for dialogue with member states about possible protective or remedial action.

The 15 partners are the European Federation of Journalists, the International Federation of Journalists, the Association of European Journalists, Article 19, Reporters without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Index on Censorship, the International Press Institute, the International News Safety Institute, Rory Peck Trust, the European Broadcasting Union, PEN International, the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom, Free Press Unlimited and the Justice for Journalists Foundation.

Source Cyprus News Agency

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Dozens of citizens from across the Nicosia district took part on Saturday March 4 in the Cans For Kids WE CAN Spring Clean-up campaign, held near their recycling centre in the Nicosia municipality Green Spot.

According to an association announcement, young people from the bi-communal Peace Players group, medical students from the University of Nicosia and regular volunteers at the recycling charity were joined by adults bringing their children and supporters of other environmental movements in a two-hour endeavour to collect trash from the surrounding areas, which was then brought back to Cans for Kids for sorting.

It is added that about 50 large bags were collected in 30 minutes and the volunteers set about separating what could be recycled from rubbish that had to be discarded, with the aluminium cans that had been collected being compacted in the special machine operating at the site and the plastic and glass bottles being placed in the appropriate area for recycling.

As stated, municipal councilor George Panayiotou expressed his satisfaction for so many young people getting involved in activities that benefitted the whole community and the environment, while Cans For Kids President Rosie Charalambous said that recycling needs to be an ongoing commitment for us all and reminded that the location of Cans For Kids can banks was available on their website (www.cansforkids.org).

The WE CAN project benefits from a grant under the Active Citizens Fund Cyprus programme, supported through a pound 1.5m grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway under the EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021 with the aim of contributing to reducing economic and social disparities and strengthening bilateral relations and cooperation between the beneficiary states and the donor states, the statement concludes.

Source Cyprus News Agency

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FORECAST FOR THE SEA AREA OF CYPRUS (B) FOR THE PERIOD FROM 1200 21/04/2023 UNTIL 1200 22/04/2023 Area covered is 8 kilometers seawards. Winds are in BEAUFORT scale. Times are local times. Atmospheric pressure at the time of issue: 1011hPa (hectopascal) Weak low pressure is affecting the area. The weather will be mainly fine with locally increased cloud coverage. Isolated rain showers and/or isolated thunderstorm are expected. Tonight to and tomorrow morning, the weather will be mainly fine with locally increased cloud coverage. Visibility: Good, but moderate in showers Sea surface temperature: 19°C

Source: Cyprus News Agency

In 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, diseases of the circulatory system were the main cause of death in all EU countries, according to data released by Eurostat, the statistical service of the European Union.

Circulatory system diseases were the main cause of death in all EU countries, except in Denmark, Ireland, France and the Netherlands, where cancer was the main cause.

These two groups of diseases, remained the leading causes of death and in total, 1.7 million people died of circulatory diseases and almost 1.2 million died from cancer.

Among the EU members, the highest share of deaths due to diseases of the circulatory system was observed in Bulgaria (61%) and the lowest in France (20%). In Cyprus, this percentage was below the EU average, at around 30%.

The highest share of deaths due to cancer was observed in Ireland (29%) and the lowest share in Bulgaria (15%). In Cyprus, this percentage was around 20%.

Diseases of the circulatory system and cancers together represented 55% of the causes of death in the EU, ranging from 42% in Belgium and 76% in Bulgaria. In Cyprus, the two categories of diseases combined accounted for about 50% of deaths.

In the year the pandemic broke out, COVID-19 was the third main cause of death in the EU, with a total of almost 439,000 deaths. The highest shares of death due to COVID-19 were registered in Belgium (18%) and Spain (15%), while the lowest were in Finland and Estonia (both 1%).

To make a sound comparison between countries, the absolute numbers of deaths across the countries need to be adjusted to the size and structure of the population, Eurostat notes.

With 1,787 deaths per 100 thousand inhabitants, Bulgaria had the highest death rate in the EU in 2020. It was followed by Romania (1,622), Hungary (1,513), Lithuania (1,482) and Latvia (1,445).

At the opposite end of the scale, the lowest death rate across the EU countries was recorded in France (863 deaths per 100 thousand inhabitants) and Ireland (892), ahead of Luxembourg (905), Finland (917) and Spain (919).

Cyprus was a little below the average of the EU, with 980 deaths per 100 thousand inhabitants.

Source Cyprus News Agency