Category: Cyprus News Agency

Cyprus has been ranked second in Europe for improving its air connectivity between 2019 and 2025, according to the June 2025 report of the Aviation Council International, Deputy Minister of Tourism Kostas Koumis said on Monday.

Speaking at an event in Larnaca Castle to mark World Tourism Day, Koumis said that Cyprus continues to record positive results in tourist arrivals and revenues, while the sector leaves ‘a positive footprint on local businesses – a factor of particular importance for the government.’

He noted that promising signs are emerging from special forms of tourism and from off-peak months, which are showing marked improvement in arrivals and revenue. Extending the tourism season, he stressed, is key to achieving year-round tourism.

This year’s World Tourism Day theme, ‘Tourism and Sustainable Transformation,’ highlights the need for a universal shift toward sustainability, Koumis said. He warned that the effects of climate change are felt more acutely in the Mediterranean, where temperatures are rising 20% faster than in other regions, making adaptation harder for countries like Cyprus.

‘Our responsibility is greater, and so is the need to join forces between the public, semi-public, and private sectors,’ he said. Tourism, he added, must evolve into a sustainable model, requiring a change in mindset, investment in knowledge, and institutional reforms where needed.

Koumis outlined the ministry’s priorities, including strengthening individual destinations and infrastructure, enhancing hospitality in rural and mountain areas, upgrading training programs, and investing in sustainability and digital transformation. Artificial intelligence, he noted, will increasingly shape the industry, with the ministry already planning joint initiatives with the Deputy Ministry of Research and Innovation.

Koumis also announced a new project with the Cyprus University of Technology to document the history of Cyprus tourism. Through academic research, interviews, and historical data, the initiative aims to highlight how the past can guide the sector’s future development.

‘Despite the many adversities of the past three years, Cyprus tourism has not only returned to strong performance levels but stabilized them,’ Koumis said.

He noted that the main responsibility now lies in ensuring a smooth transition to the next phase of tourism, guided by the principles of sustainability, respect for the environment, and sound economic management.

Cyprus President, Nikos Christodoulides, is to participate in the informal European Council which will be held on October 1 and 2 in Copenhagen, where he is to hold a series of meetings, among others, with Switzerland’s President, the NATO Secretary-General and Denmark’s Prime Minister.

In a written statement, the Director of the resident’s Press Office, Viktoras Papadopoulos, notes that, early in the afternoon of October 1, President Christodoulides will participate in the Council meeting, about EU Security and Defence, while later he will take part in the discussion on the situation in Ukraine.

In the evening, President Christodoulides is to attend the dinner hosted by the Danish royal couple in honour of the leaders of the states participating in the European Political Community.

On October 2, the President of the Republic will participate in the Plenary of the European Political Community, and in the debate on economic security.

Later on, President Christodoulides is to hold separate bilateral meetings with the President of Switzerland Karin Keller-Sutter, NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, the President of Moldova, Maia Sandu, as well as with Albert II, Prince of Monaco.

He will then attend the closing proceedings of the Plenary.

On Friday, October 3, in the morning, President Christodoulides will have a meeting with Denmark’s Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, followed by expanded talks between the delegations of the two countries.

The President will be accompanied in Copenhagen by the Deputy Minister for European Affairs, Marilena Raouna, the Director of the Presidential Press Office and other officials.

Cyprus has welcomed US President, Donald Trump’s proposal, as a vital step to end to the war in Gaza, release of all hostages and secure humanitarian aid in massive scale.

“It is critical for all parties to accept its parameters as the way forward. We reaffirm the urgency of lasting peace and security for both Israelis and Palestinians alike, based on the two-state solution”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a post on X.

Cyprus commends the US’ leadership and mediating efforts, pointing out that, as part of the region, it will continue to responsibly support all diplomatic efforts to this end, the MFA added.

?he military parade as part of the celebrations for the 65th anniversary of the declaration of independence of the Republic of Cyprus, is to take place at 9am on Wednesday, October 1, in Nicosia.

According to an announcement by the Ministry of Defence, President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, will take the salute, in the presence of the Minister of Defence, Vassilis Palmas, Greece’s Deputy Minister of National Defence, Thanasis Davakis, and the Chief of the National Guard, Lieutenant General Georgios Tsitsikostas.

According to the announcement, the parade will be held on Iosif Hadjiosif Avenue, with the participation of various units and aircraft of the National Guard, the Cyprus Police, the Fire Service, the Civil Defence, the Department of Forests and the Public Health Services.

Ambassadors and Defence Attachés of foreign countries and other officials will also attend the military parade which is open to the public, it said.

The parade will begin with a 21-gun salute, it said.

Cyprus’ Foreign Minister. Constantinos Kombos, is travelling to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, to participate in the “Munich Leaders Meeting”, which is co-organized with the Munich Security Conference from September 30 to October 2, in the city of AlUla.

A press release issued by the Foreign Ministry said that Kombos’ participation in the Conference is taking place at the invitation of Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Conference takes place at a critical time with growing challenges for the international community, as well as the escalation of tensions, which undermine stability and threaten international peace and security, the MFA noted.

During the conference, the participants are expected to exchange views on the most important issues and threats to regional and international security and stability. Special emphasis will also be placed on highlighting prospects for joint cooperation in key areas, such as energy security and the stability of the global economy, the press release added.

On the sidelines of the conference, Cyprus Minister will have contacts with his counterparts, as well as with other officials, it concluded.

The Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Maria Panayiotou, briefed the House Agriculture Committee on Tuesday about the challenges facing the production and trade of halloumi PDO, the checks carried out so far, and the government’s support measures for producers.

Panayiotou said that in 2025 to date, the Competent Authority has conducted nine inspections with nine samples, while the Control Body carried out 11 inspections with 22 samples. These checks identified two cases of non-compliance by the Control Body and one by the Competent Authority. As a result, batches were seized and relabelled to ensure they would not be sold as PDO halloumi.

On export checks, she said that up to 19 September, 250 administrative controls of halloumi PDO exports had been carried out, with six complaints submitted in four countries through the EU’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (iRasff).

The Minister highlighted the creation in autumn 2024 of an Interdepartmental Committee on halloumi, bringing together all relevant authorities for the first time to coordinate exports. This committee has drawn up a roadmap to address problems in marketing halloumi PDO and is already active at both European and international level. It has identified target markets such as Australia, the UAE and Japan, aiming to include halloumi PDO in trade agreements. Panayiotou added that she personally raised producers’ concerns with her UK counterpart regarding difficulties linked to Brexit.

She stressed that strict checks are applied at every stage, from dairies to retail and exports, with close cooperation between the Agriculture Ministry, the Ministry of Commerce, the Health Services and the State General Laboratory, as well as with European partners to combat imitation products. Since October 2024, dairies have been required to record milk quantities through software, ensuring transparency in sheep and goat milk use.

Panayiotou also outlined support measures for livestock farmers, acknowledging the pressures of rising production costs. These include a pound 30 million investment programme for goat and sheep farming, launched in June 2025, as well as more attractive headage subsidies linked to productivity, with a pound 4 million annual budget. For 2025, two subsidy categories apply based on milk yields, with a transition to a single scheme by 2026-27.

Additionally, she referred to a plan to allocate 26 state-owned plots for large-scale livestock units, offering investment subsidies of up to pound 600,000. Fifteen applications have been received so far, while 25 livestock plots have already been granted.

The national goal is the reunification of the island and the complete withdrawal of Turkish occupation troops from Cyprus, said Nikitas Kaklamanis, President of the Hellenic Parliament, on Tuesday, noting that parliamentary cooperation between Greece and Cyprus will be strengthened and that parliamentary diplomacy can be an aid to governments.

On his first visit abroad and to Cyprus, after assuming his duties as President of the Hellenic Parliament, Kaklamanis met in the morning with the President of the House of Representatives, Annita Demetriou, in Nicosia, who said in statements after the meeting that they discussed many issues, particularly complex ones, concerning relations between the two countries.

They emphasized, she continued, the need for Greece and Cyprus to remain islands of security and stability in the wider region. “At the same time, we reaffirmed our demand for the immediate release of the five Greek Cypriots who are being held illegally, under conditions of hostage-taking, by the occupying regime,” she added.

House President also said they exchanged views on developments last week in New York at the UN General Assembly, as well as on the next steps in the Cyprus issue. “I reiterated our deep gratitude for Greece’s support in the efforts to restart negotiations with the aim of resolving the Cyprus issue,” she said.

Demetriou also provided information on the preparations of the Parliament ahead of the EU Council Presidency, while they also analyzed issues of broader geopolitical developments and challenges, current affairs, and agreed that “under no circumstances and for no reason can relations between the two countries be disrupted.”

She pointed out that the President of the Hellenic Parliament will be attending tomorrow’s parade for the Independence Day of the Republic of Cyprus, which “is highly symbolic and sends a strong message.”

For his part, the President of the Hellenic Parliament thanked his counterpart for the warm welcome and the flattering words, stressing that at a time of political tension in Greece, “the Cyprus issue is one on which there is unanimous and unequivocal support from all political parties in the Hellenic Parliament. And it is precisely this unanimous and unequivocal support for common national goals that I want to convey to you.”

‘This support existed in the times of our predecessors, it exists in our times’, he continued, “and as you rightly hinted, the ties and cooperation between the two parliaments will become even closer on many levels. Not only in parliamentary diplomacy, as my friend the President said, but also in culture and education. In problems that concern both you and us and are well known’, he added.

Kaklamanis stated that sometimes parliamentary diplomacy comes to the rescue and solves problems “that governments may not be able to solve.”

The President of the Hellenic Parliament said he was “very moved and happy” to be present at the 65th anniversary of the independence of the Republic of Cyprus, which “symbolises the struggles of Cypriot Hellenism for its freedom. But for this freedom to have meaning and for the souls of the heroes who fell then, and later during the Attila invasion, to find justice, the national goal must be achieved, and the national goal is none other than the reunification of the island for all its inhabitants.”

For this to happen and be sustainable, he added, not a single Turkish soldier from the occupying forces can remain, and all hopes for the missing persons must be exhausted, Greeks and Greek Cypriots. He also said that he will raise in Greece the issue of the five Greek Cypriots who are being held captive in the occupied territories on “ridiculous charges.”

The statements were preceded by a meeting between Annita Demetriou and Nikitas Kaklamanis in the office of the House President, where she said that the fraternal relationship, understanding, and solidarity with Greece is Cyprus’s greatest diplomatic and political advantage.

Kaklamanis pointed out that the first trip of each newly elected President of the Hellenic Parliament is to Cyprus, not for formal reasons, but for very substantial ones. He noted that the national goal is the reunification of the island and the complete withdrawal of the occupying forces in accordance with the decisions of the UN Security Council.

Demetriou and Kaklamanis exchanged gifts as Presidents of the two parliaments, with Kaklamanis offering his ” friend Annita” a personal gift, a silk scarf from Soufli.

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.

CYPRUS DEPARTMENT OF METEOROLOGY

FORECAST FOR THE SEA AREA OF CYPRUS (B)

FOR THE PERIOD FROM 1200 30/09/2025 UNTIL 1200 01/10/2025

Area covered is 8 kilometers seawards.

Winds are in BEAUFORT scale. Times are local times.

Atmospheric pressure at the time of issue: 1012hPa (hectopascal)

Seasonal low pressure is affecting the area. The weather will be mainly fine but locally increased cloud will be present.

Visibility: Good

Sea surface temperature: 27°C

Warnings: NIL

The critical importance of research and innovation in strengthening the EU’s strategy for startups and scaleups, was pointed out by the Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy Nikodimos Damianos, at the EU Competitiveness Council for Research, on Tuesday in Brussels. “This strategy is not only about supporting new businesses, but also about retaining talent and innovative startups within Europe,” stressed Damianos, adding that “Cyprus is ready to actively contribute to its implementation, especially in view of the upcoming Cypriot Presidency of the EU Council in 2026.”

A regards the Council’s main conclusions, Damianos stressed that “we must bridge the innovation gap between member states,” highlighting that “this strategy will enhance Europe’s competitiveness and technological sovereignty, ensuring that top talent and innovative companies remain within the EU.”

The research ministers of the 27 member states also approved conclusions on the EU’s Life Sciences Strategy, that underscores their critical role in boosting competitiveness, strategic autonomy, and social well-being. “Life sciences are one of the key pillars for Europe’s economic and technological independence,” noted Damianos, adding that “Cyprus, with its investments in areas such as biotechnology and biobanks, is ready to contribute to the implementation of this strategy.”

The most political part of the second day’s discussions focused on research and innovation for dual-use and defense applications. During the debate on the “Horizon Europe” Framework Programme (2028-2034), Damianos emphasized that “the new approach to dual-use and defense will strengthen the EU’s resilience and competitiveness.” However, he stressed the need for clear rules and criteria for third-country participation to avoid risks to the EU’s energy and technological security. “We must ensure that procedures are simplified and free of additional administrative burdens, especially for Member States with limited resources,” he added, referring to the need to support “widening” Member States in accessing critical technological infrastructures.

During a working lunch, ministers discussed the EU’s future ambitions regarding research and technological infrastructures. Damianos pointed out that “as a geographically small and isolated Member State, Cyprus considers EU support for access to world-class infrastructures vital.” However, “without this support, we risk falling behind in critical areas such as artificial intelligence and semiconductors,” he added.

On the sidelines of the Council in Brussels, Damianos held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Estonia, Minister of Education and Research, Kristina Kallas, and Portugal, Minister of Education, Science and Innovation, Fernando Alexandre, aiming to coordinate and prepare for key issues ahead of Cyprus’s EU Council Presidency in 2026. “Cyprus will place particular emphasis on strengthening research, innovation, and digital transition, with the goal of a more competitive and sustainable Europe,” he concluded.

Weather Temperature for Cyprus

Today’s weather and temperatures for Cyprus according to the Department of Meteorology

Date 30/09/2025

Station

TEMPERATURE (C) (FROM 20:00 PC of the previous one until the time of the show)

Humidity at

1200 UTC