Category: Cyprus News Agency

Cooperation with the European Commission on the next Multiannual Financial Framework, EU strategy on islands and the ‘Right to Stay’ initiative were the main issues discussed during a meeting on Thursday between the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, and the European Commission Executive Vice-President for Cohesion and Reforms, Raffaele Fitto, who will deliver a speech on EU strategy on islands in the context of the High-level conference “Strengthening islands and coastal communities of the European Union” held on Friday in Pafos.

Welcoming Raffaele Fitto at the Presidential Palace, President Christodoulides thanked him for his support during the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU.

‘What you did for our presidency was very decisive, especially with regard to the biggest and most important file, the Multiannual Financial Framework, and I wanted publicly to thank you for your leadership, for your support’ the President said.

‘We are very glad to have you in Cyprus for this very important conference, it is a very important one, and I am sure that our cooperation will continue also after the presidency’, he added.

For his part, the EC Executive Vice-President said that a very important work has been done for the next MFF, for the governance of the next national regional partnership, ‘a very important step for the future and also for the strategy for islands.’

‘I think that was another important work that we concluded during your presidency. I can say that this presidency was a very important success for you and for the European Commission, and we can continue to work together on this experience. It was a great pleasure also for the next step, for the next MFF, but also for the next proposals that we are preparing, starting from the Right To Stay, this is another important issue’, he noted.

He added he will be visiting a number of villages in the country, ‘because the message is to go on the ground, to visit the situation also, to prepare this new strategy also, to give a very important and right answer to these needs that we have on this important dossier.” “I can imagine that it will be possible to continue to work together, to collaborate very well’, he concluded.

In his statements after the meeting, Fitto said that it was an important occasion to verify the work that the Cyprus Presidency has made. ‘I think that it was a very important work and we achieved very important results’, he added.

‘At the same time, for me, this is an important occasion also to present the Strategy for Islands. The Strategy for Islands was an important new approach of the European Commission. We worked very well, we have 17 million people that live in the islands and the message that we want to give is that this is an important tool for the future, in particular also to use better the new approach of the new European budget, the next MFF. We have the opportunity also to use the resources with this strategy and also to face the big challenge of the cost of insularity. Now we have to continue our work with the government to achieve these very important results’, he noted.

Asked about his visit today to Ayios Ioannis village in Limassol District, followed by a visit to Troodos Observatory, an EU funded project, as part of ‘Right To Stay’ initiative, the EC Executive Vice-President said that this is another important dossier.

‘The Right To Stay is a crucial issue for the future of Europe. We have the goal to give more competitiveness to Europe, but at the same time we have an important risk on the depopulation of the internal rural areas and the remote areas’, he continued.

‘Today I am visiting these villages and this is the new approach that we are having because the idea is to prepare this strategy for the Right To Stay, to create also an integrated policy between the region and the other policies like agriculture, fisheries, transport, tourism, this is the idea that we want to have. Also, in the last weeks we presented this call for evidence and we received more than 700 contributions. I think it is a very important message that there is a great interest in this way and now we are working because we will present this strategy in the first months of the next year’, he further explained.

‘But in all my missions I am visiting these villages because the idea is also to see directly on the ground to understand better the real needs that these territories have’, he concluded.

The Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage (TCCH) has completed conservation works at the mosque and adjacent school building in the village of Agios Thomas/Aytuma, within the framework of the ‘Support to cultural heritage monuments of great importance for Cyprus’ project, funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

According to UNDP Cyprus, the mosque, referenced in written sources from the early 19th century, stands at one of the highest points of the village and is a notable example of a modest rural religious structure built with local stone.

The adjacent school building, constructed in a rectangular ‘makrinari’ layout, reflects the same vernacular craftsmanship.

The conservation works focused on stabilising the structures while preserving their historic character.

Interventions included cleaning, structural repairs restoration of key features, alongside improvements to the surrounding area and visitor access.

The press release notes that beyond the conservation effort itself, the project reflects the TCCH’s work to protect the shared cultural heritage of Cyprus as a common legacy for all communities.

“By restoring sites of cultural and historical significance across the island, the Committee contributes to building trust, encouraging dialogue and fostering a greater sense of shared ownership of the island’s rich and diverse heritage” it says.

Since its establishment, the TCCH has overseen the conservation of more than 200 cultural heritage sites across Cyprus, ranging from religious monuments and secular buildings to archaeological landmarks.

“Through its bicommunal approach, the Committee continues to demonstrate how practical cooperation can deliver tangible results, strengthening confidence and promoting mutual understanding between communities” it concludes.

Bilateral relations between Cyprus and Albania, Albania’s European path, and regional and international developments were at the centre of talks held in Nicosia on Thursday between Cyprus Foreign Affairs Minister Constantinos Kombos and Albania’s Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Ferit Hoxha.

Kombos noted that this year marks the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, saying that recent high-level contacts reflect “growing political momentum” in bilateral relations.

He said the two sides reaffirmed their shared commitment to further deepening cooperation and agreed to intensify both political and technical dialogue at all levels.

Referring to Albania’s EU accession process, Kombos said Cyprus had committed to acting as an “honest broker and facilitator” of Albania’s reform efforts.

“Today, I firmly believe that Albania stands closer than ever to its European future. There is still work to be done, but rest assured that Cyprus will continue to act as an honest broker and facilitator throughout this process,” he said.

On the Western Balkans, the Cypriot Foreign Minister described the region as “a priority for the European Union”, adding that “the enlargement process must advance in a way that creates a positive environment both for the European Union and for the countries concerned.”

Turning to the Cyprus issue, Kombos said he had briefed his Albanian counterpart on the latest developments and reiterated the Republic of Cyprus’ commitment to the resumption of meaningful negotiations within the framework of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the principles of the European Union.

He also thanked Albania for “its principled stance and European position” on the Cyprus issue.

For his part, Hoxha described Cyprus’ Presidency of the Council of the European Union as “highly successful”, saying the country had “played a significant role in advancing the European Union’s agenda.”

He also expressed Albania’s appreciation for the priority the Cypriot Presidency had attached to the EU enlargement process and its adherence to the merit-based approach, stressing that Cyprus’ support for enlargement and Albania’s European path “has our sincere appreciation.”

Referring to Albania’s accession negotiations, Hoxha said that “thanks to Cyprus’ guidance and leadership, Albania completed the first phase of the accession process.”

On bilateral relations, he said the two countries had agreed to further expand cooperation in tourism, energy, technology, agriculture and services, while strengthening contacts between their respective business communities and chambers of commerce.

He also welcomed the forthcoming launch of a direct air link between Nicosia and Tirana.

On international developments, Hoxha underlined that Albania remains “fully aligned” with the European Union regarding Russia’s war against Ukraine and continues to support Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.

Regarding the Middle East, he said Albania remains aligned with the European Union’s position and supports efforts to relaunch the political process with the aim of achieving “a just and lasting peace.”

Replying to a question on Albania’s future contribution to European security following its accession to the European Union, Hoxha said his country, as a NATO member, is actively contributing to strengthening the Alliance’s European pillar and has committed to gradually increasing defence spending to 5% of GDP by 2035.

He added that Albania’s defence-related spending is expected to reach 2.6% of GDP this year, describing this as “a substantial contribution”, while stressing that the country is “100% aligned” with the European Union’s Common Foreign and Security Policy.

The Plenary of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has approved with an overwhelming majority the Report, Resolution and Recommendation of Cypriot rapporteur, former MP Kostis Efstathiou, on combating cross-border repression.

According to a press release by the House of Representatives, in his speech, Efstathiou pointed out that cross-border repression has taken on dangerous dimensions endangering the security and sovereignty of European states.

The Resolution condemns all forms of cross-border repression and proposes a series of measures to better address the phenomenon through coordinated action at European level.

Particular emphasis is placed on strengthening international cooperation, on specialised training of law enforcement authorities for the timely detection and response to these practices and on the exchange of best practices between states.

The recommendation accompanying the Resolution urges the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to proceed with the development of a legally binding institutional framework, with the aim of strengthening the prevention and response to the problem.

After the discussion, both the President of PACE Petra Bayr and the President of the European People’s Party at the plenary Pablo Hispan, praised Efstathiou’s work as a member of PACE over the last decade.

Meanwhile, Efstathiou made a speech at an event held on the sidelines of the plenary on the human rights situation in Turkey and the country’s degree of compliance with the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). In his speech, he called on the Turkish authorities to implement, without further delay, the decisions of the ECHR.

Cyprus recorded a 2% increase in the prices of newly constructed residential buildings in 2025 compared with the previous year, according to data published by Eurostat, on Thursday.

According to Eurostat, the increase recorded in Cyprus was higher than the European Union average for the same year, which stood at 1.3%.

Across the European Union, construction prices for new residential buildings increased by 48.2% between 2015 and 2025. The sharpest rises were recorded in recent years, with annual increases of 5.8% in 2021, 12.2% in 2022 and 6.9% in 2023. The growth rate subsequently slowed to 2.3% in 2024 and 1.3% in 2025.

Among the Member States for which data are available, the largest increases over the past decade were recorded in Bulgaria, where prices rose by 166.1%, followed by Hungary with 155.4% and Romania with 130.7%.

Over the same period, the smallest increases were recorded in Italy at 17.0%, Greece at 17.3% and Finland at 22.1%.

The Cyprus Institute on Wednesday launched CyCEM – Insights, a new online platform designed to improve public access to data on Cyprus’ competitive electricity market and enhance market transparency.

According to the Institute, the platform brings together publicly available data from all segments of the competitive electricity market, including the Forward Market, the Day-Ahead Market and the balancing markets – the Integrated Scheduling Process and the Real-Time Balancing Market.

The platform provides users with visualisations, summary indicators and structured datasets on electricity prices, trading volumes, the electricity generation mix, the share of renewable energy sources and market balancing. It also allows users to export selected datasets for further analysis.

Speaking at the platform’s launch on June 24, Cyprus Institute Professor Theodoros Zachariadis said CyCEM – Insights addresses a gap in access to official market data and aims to support transparency, data-driven energy analysis and informed public discussion on the development of Cyprus’s electricity market.

The STATRUN team from Laniteio Gymnasium of Limassol was awarded, on Wednesday, first place in the 14-16 age category, at the European Statistics Competition awards ceremony held in Sofia, Bulgaria. According to the Cyprus Statistical Service (CYSTAT) this marks the first time that a team from Cyprus has won the European Statistics Competition.

According to a press release issued by CYSTAT, the European phase of the competition followed a highly demanding national phase with the participation of 9,096 teams comprising 28,832 students from 22 countries.

The winning teams from each country (two per category) were invited to produce a two-minute video presenting a statistical ‘portrait’ of the people of their country. Using official statistics, contestants were asked to create an engaging and accurate portrayal of their country’s population while also demonstrating how data can be used to describe national identity.

The evaluation of the 35 submissions in the 14-16 age category and the 39 submissions in the 16-18 age category was carried out in two stages. The jury, composed of experts and specialists in fields related to statistics and communication, selected the five best videos in each category, which were announced today during the awards ceremony.

According to CYSTAT, the teams from Cyprus performed exceptionally well in the European phase. Of the four teams that participated, the STATRUN team won first place in the 14-16 age category, the ANOVA team won third place in the 16-18 age category and the OUTLIARS team was among the top twelve in the same category.

The Statistical Service, the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth, the University of Cyprus and the Cyprus Statistical Society, co-organizers of the competition in Cyprus, extend their warmest congratulations to the students and tutors of the STATRUN team, who won first place, as well as the other Cypriot teams, for their outstanding work and for representing Cyprus with distinction.

“These achievements are an inspiration to the school community, highlighting the value of teamwork, creativity and systematic effort,” CYSTAT notes.

The top five teams by category:

Age group 14-16

1. STATRUN (Cyprus)

2. EVJ (Slovakia)

3. DATAOUT (Romania)

4. COKOLINO1 (Slovenia)

5. FANTASTIK (Bulgaria)

Age group 16-18

1. STARTS (Greece)

2. OBCHODKARI (Slovakia)

3. ANOVA (Cyprus)

4. BLUESHRIMP (Italy)

5. MAT (Slovakia)

University of Nicosia ranked among the world’s top universities in QS World University Rankings 2027

UNIC ranked in the 711-720 band globally, top 200 in the European Union and 3rd in Cyprus, with strong performance in Global Engagement and Employability indicators

The University of Nicosia (UNIC) has achieved a major new distinction in the QS World University Rankings 2027, ranking in the 711-720 band globally, in the top 200 in the European Union, and 3rd in Cyprus among the universities included in this year’s edition.

The 2027 edition of the QS World University Rankings assessed 1,504 institutions worldwide, making UNIC’s inclusion a significant milestone and a strong endorsement of the University’s growing international profile, academic quality, and global outlook.

This latest recognition reinforces the University of Nicosia’s position as one of the leading universities in Cyprus and the wider region, with a clear focus on academic excellence, global engagement, and student success.

Commenting on this achievement, the Rector of the University of Nicosia, Professor Philippos Pouyioutas mentioned:

‘This is a major achievement for the University of Nicosia, and one that we are proud to celebrate. Being ranked among the world’s top universities in the QS World University Rankings 2027 strongly affirms the progress we continue to make as an institution. Our strong performance in Global Engagement and Employability reflects the distinct character of the University of Nicosia: outward-looking, engaged with the society and the labour market, and committed to delivering high-quality research and education to a dynamic international community. Securing 1st and 2nd place among Cypriot and Greek universities in Global Engagement indicators, as well as 3rd place in Employability Outcomes, highlights both our international orientation and our strong links with local and global labour markets.’

The QS World University Rankings are among the most widely recognised and influential global university rankings, evaluating universities across a range of indicators in five thematic areas, including Global Engagement (International Research Network, International Student Ratio, International Faculty Ratio) and Employability.

For the University of Nicosia, this result marks another important step in its continued development and international recognition, highlighting the strength of its academic environment and the growing impact of its global orientation.

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Cyprus and Head of the UN peacekeeping mission, Khassim Diagne, briefed members of the diplomatic community on Thursday on the activities of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) ahead of his upcoming visit to New York to address the UN Security Council in July.

According to a post by UN Cyprus on X, Diagne welcomed diplomats for a briefing on UNFICYP activities on the island before his planned briefing to the UN Security Council in July.

During the meeting, Diagne also addressed the situation in the buffer zone and referred to ongoing activities carried out by the mission’s military, UN Police and Civil Affairs components aimed at reducing tensions and maintaining peace.

UN Cyprus said that multilateralism remains ‘our strongest tool to bridge divides and build lasting peace on the island.’

This year marks a historic turning point for the recovery of the griffon vulture population in Cyprus as for the first time since 2021 successful breeding activity was recorded, with five breeding pairs nesting in various areas of the island.

A joint press release from BirdLife Cyprus and the Game and Fauna Service says that this development comes just a few years after the loss of the last breeding pairs due to vulture poisoning incidents in 2022 and 2023 and is proof that efforts to strengthen the population are starting to bear fruit.

The five pairs are expected to contribute significantly to the recovery of the population, adding new individuals to a species that is still in a critical conservation status in Cyprus.

It is particularly encouraging that four of the five pairs include birds that were transferred from Spain as part of the LIFE project ‘Life with Vultures’ and have now reached breeding age.

The chicks will be ringed and equipped with GPS transmitters to monitor their movements, contributing to a better understanding of their behaviour and to their more effective protection after they leave the nest.

The press release says that the pairs nest in historical breeding areas of the species. Among these is a site that has not been used for nesting in the last 15 years, which suggests that the population is gradually starting to use traditional areas on the island again.

Four of the five breeding pairs include Spanish birds released in Cyprus in 2022 and 2023.

Of particular importance is the fifth pair, which consists of the last remaining individual of Cretan origin, a 13-year-old female transferred to Cyprus as part of the GYPAS project (2011-2014) and released in 2015, and a male bird born in Cyprus in 2021.

The breeding season of the Griffon Vulture, which usually extends from late winter to summer, is the most sensitive period for the species.

Human presence or intrusive activities near active nests, helicopter flights, recreational approaches or other sources of aerial and acoustic disturbance can force adult birds to temporarily or even permanently abandon the nest.

The press release also notes that for the protection of two nests located within the British Bases, additional measures have been taken to limit human disturbance during the breeding season.

In collaboration with the British Bases Administration, the Game and Fauna Service and BirdLife Cyprus, protection zones have been established around the nests, which will remain in force throughout the breeding season.

This measure was implemented as a preventive measure, with the aim of minimising the risk of disturbance to the birds and ensuring their successful breeding.

Although this year’s breeding success is a significant milestone, the Vulture remains among the most endangered bird species in Cyprus.

Illegal use of poisoned baits and electrocution from power lines continue to be the most serious threats to its survival, while the protection of nesting areas and the maintenance of suitable habitats remain critical for the long-term recovery of the population.