Current Events

Greek villages like Sartana, based in Mariupol, Ukraine, have been resettled in Cyprus. Residents of the village are well on their way to finding suitable work and integrating themselves into the larger community.

Ukrinform says that the initiative was made by Serhiy Nizhynskyi, the ambassador of Ukraine in Cyprus.

Cyprus’ Interior Ministry has revealed that Cyprus has a total of thirty-three thousand Ukrainians, and around twenty-four thousands of them came after the war and have a temporary protection status.

Nizhynskyi called the move a great step in relocating people who will easily adjust to a place physically far, but culturally near. He also said that being from Ukraine, they will not waste the chance they have received and will get themselves gainfully employed and integrated as fast as possible.

Nizhynskyi also spoke about whether this move would lead to them losing their Ukrainian identity and citizenship. He said that this depends entirely upon them, and they may choose either path.

This development comes on the heels of the opening of the ‘Ukrainian House’ – a place where Ukrainians can meet, exchange ideas and celebrate their culture.

Hakan Fidan, the Foreign Minister of Turkey, has accused Cyprus of blocking the growing rapport between the European Union and Turkey.

While speaking in Brussels, Belgium, at NATO, Fidan said that Cyprus and Greece together were blocking the progression of relations between the Middle Eastern nation and the EU.

He further explained how the two countries’ actions are behaving in a way that’s stalling relations between the two.

He said that everyone he speaks with complains about the Greek Cypriot authorities, and that their behavior is causing great obstruction between the EU and Turkey. However, he did not give any further details.

Fidan also spoke about how quick and solid steps need to be taken to jumpstart EU accession. Steps include reversing certain decisions taken in 2019. This is a direct referral to the European Parliament suspending Turkey’s accession over issues of law, freedom of media and state of human rights in the country.

According to Fidan, it is imperative to remove blockages and reopen chapters that have been in limbo. He emphasized recent conversations with top European Union officers such as Kaja Kallas, the High Representative, and Marta Kos, the Enlargement Commissioner. Topics covered in said discussion include visa expansion, Turkish European banking operations, modernizing the EU-Turkey Customs Union, and visa liberalization.

The nations of Lebanon & Cyprus have finally signed the long-awaited maritime border agreement, putting an end to over two decades of impasse, which had put a pause on oil & gas exploration initiatives in the Mediterranean Sea.

This is an extremely crucial time for this development, since Europe is already seeking suitable alternatives to fuel from Russia.

Lebanese and Cypriot Presidents Joseph Aoun and Nikos Christodoulides respectively signed the agreement at Baabda presidential palace near Beirut. This deal was initiated first in 2007 and now being finalized.

According to Christodoulides, the deal is historic, while Aoun says that its signing sends across a clear message to those wishing to foster better collaboration.

The 2007 agreement was ratified by Cyprus but not by Lebanon on account of the latter?s internal political crisis, as well as their sea border disagreement with Israel.

In 2012, Cyprus did offer their mediation services but failed. A mutual agreement between Lebanon and Israel on this matter was reached in 2022, after US acted as the mediator.

Aoun expressed his hope that this would help them improve their offshore exploration, which in turn would benefit their still-fledgling economy.

All said and done, Lebanon is yet to reach upon a similar agreement with Syria, which too is dealing with political crisis after the ousting of former President Assad.

Cyprus? Fire Department received over sixty calls from all over Nicosia, which was badly affected by large-scale floods caused by torrential rains.

One of the more severe incidents in the line was that of students getting trapped in a school bus with the water rising rapidly.

According to Fire Department spokesman Andreas Kettis?s post on social media platform X (formerly, Twitter), calls originated from as far as old Nicosia, Engomi, Lakatamia, and Strovolos. Several calls were reporting culvert openings and requests for emergency pumping of rainwater. In the case of the schoolchildren, the brigade helped them by unlocking the bus and evacuating the students to a safer space.

As a result of the flooding, the streets of Erithros Stavros and Alexandroupoli were closed, and drivers were urged to avoid these and other areas negatively affected.

The results of a government survey has revealed that people?s satisfaction with their internet services is steadily and surely rising.

Conducted by the Commissioner of Communications, the survey was carried out via a series of questions prepared by the market observation team. Over 1200 people participated in the survey in the span of approximately a month, with one-third of the respondents living in rural areas and the rest in urban ones.

The overall score of satisfaction with internet services was found to be 8.3 – a small but sure uptick of 0.1 from the same time last year. That said, the people?s level of satisfaction with price and quality had decreased by a similar number to land at an underwhelming 7.6.

It was also found that more than eighty per cent of those who responded had no idea about the details of their own internet services as mentioned in their service agreements – a whopping 4% increase from the previous year. Details-wise, over 50% & 62% of the respondents had no idea what their download and upload speeds were, respectively.

Concurrently, the number of users who don?t measure how their internet performs also fell to 6 in 10, from last year?s 8 in 10.

Qualitatively, the respondents rated their feelings of satisfaction with the speeds to an average of 7.9 and network reliability at a solid 8.1 – indicating good performance with regards to expectations.

It was found that the majority of the users (roughly 88%) used Wi-Fi as their primary route of access. 78% also used their mobile phone networks as the main device used to access the internet.

According to other results, 29% of all users reported seeing a complete lapse of their connection at least once every month. 24% though reported never experiencing any lapses at all.

Those who reported bad connections largely said to have experienced them between 8 and 10 PM in the evening, and pinned the reason as operational issues.

As for switching a service provider – the main reasons cited were more affordable rates, better service quality, and an increase in fixed service costs.

Cyprus Police has remanded a man they had arrested for carrying out the attempted homicide of a businessman back in July.

The man, aged 22, is a prime suspect of six crimes, which include felony conspiracy, stealing and receiving goods that were stolen, illegally possessing and transporting explosives and a firearm, and, of course, attempted homicide.

The accused has a lawyer, who has so far raised no objection on the development.

Allegedly, the suspect had confessed to his act of attempted homicide to a third person. Further investigations revealed that on the day of the attack, he had been tracking the victim?s location and even asked for a leave of absence from his place of work.

The Police even found a piece of cloth belonging to him, which he allegedly dropped while running away from the scene of the crime. They are waiting for the DNA test to confirm the connection.

Examination is also being carried out on the suspect?s cellphone and the firearm found at his residence.

The suspect does not have any criminal or deviant past, and so far has lawyered up and refuses to cooperate with the Police on any level.

Further investigation is currently underway.

Cyprus was hit by an earthquake of 5.3 magnitude around half an hour before noon, with its tremors felt as far as Israel and Lebanon.

The Geological Surveys Department has confirmed that at around 11.32 AM in Cyprus, an earthquake originated 15 km below ground and approximately 20 km northeast of the district of Paphos.

All public buildings within the district followed evacuation protocols. Others in residences and private buildings, too, came to the streets fearing for their safety.

Multiple social media posts show surroundings in varying levels of disorder and chaos, though no structures were damaged and no injuries or casualties have been reported since.

Cyprus is present in a region that is seismically very active. However, rarely does it incur an incident where it suffers any major damage.

According to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre, the tremors of the earthquake spread as far and wide as Israel and, of course, Lebanon.

Tayyip Erdo?an, the President of Trkiye, recently said that it was better for the island nation of Cyprus to stay divided into two states i.e. Greek and Turkish Cyprus.

The news comes after the shock victory of the people of the ?rogue? Turkish Cyprus voting for Tufan Erhurman to be their next leader, as opposed to Ankara?s favorite Ersin Tatar.

Interestingly, one of the main reasons Erhurman gained his popularity is due to the fact that he is a supporter of reunification. He is eager to negotiate with the Greek Cypriots to come to a solution that is beneficial to both sides and can bring long-overdue peace to the citizens of the island.

However, right after hosting the new Turkish Cypriot leader on his maiden diplomatic visit to Turkey, President Erdogan reiterated that it was best for Cyprus to have the two states remain friendly but separate.

He further added that his view represents the sentiments of his country at large, and they would rather have the talks continue in that direction, than one where the borders and put down and the factions are dissolved.

This comes in stark contrast to Erhurman?s statement of Turkish Cypriots being an equal one out of two of Cyprus? founding partners. He said that while they will not compromise on unequal terms of any kind with regard to their status as Turkish Cypriots, they are willing to discuss bringing the matter to a suitable conclusion.

Cyprus was divided into two states in 1974, and multiple rounds of negotiation have since failed. The last official discussion on this topic was held in 2017 in Switzerland, but it remained inconclusive.

The Energy Ministers of the United States, Israel, Cyprus, and Greece reached a commitment to make a bold move to replace Russia?s energy influence with that of the US.

Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen was joined by the co?chairpersons of the National Energy Dominance Council of the US, who together confirmed their commitment to providing better cooperation and security when it comes to energy in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

The end of the forum event was marked by a joint criticism of Russia, and especially its dominance over energy supply in Europe, while being such a hostile actor.

There was an official photography session with Cohen and his Cypriot, Greek, and US counterparts.

A fresh trade route was also finalized to help Europe become more independent from Russia?s energy and to allow the Gulf countries and the US to take its place. The move will also help reduce energy expenses for Europe, which is a heavy plus.

Other discussions during the forum included supporting regional initiatives for producing energy and developing infrastructure, such as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC).

Besides Cohen, the other chief attendees at the summit were Chris Wright (Energy Secretary of the US), Doug Burgum (Interior Secretary of the US), Stavros Papastavrou (Energy Minister of Greece) and Cypriot Energy Minister George Papanastasiou.

The plan is to have the next edition of this forum in Washington between April and June 2026, to strengthen the countries’ cooperation on the topic of Energy.

The Cyprus National Guard has enlisted its first female volunteer.

Sotiroula Spanou, aged 22, became the first woman to volunteer and successfully enlist for the Cyprus National Guard. This became fully official once she reported for duty at the ?KEN? Recruit Training Center and formally completed her induction.

Spanou was, in fact, one of two women to have been interested in volunteering, but the other one decided to withdraw her application in the final moments.

Spanou made history that day by arriving at 9 AM in the morning, whereupon she got all of her equipment and military kit. She was asked to report the next working day to start her training period.

She has been placed in a company comprising only women, which has been equipped with precision infrastructure that can both train and accommodate women volunteers.

Spanou has been very happy with the developments and talked about her view of joining the National Guard on a longer-term basis, and adopting the military as a profession.

She further encouraged more women to consider joining the military, saying that there isn?t ?anything to lose? by doing it and that it is certainly a one-of-a-kind experience.

Spanou?s grandfather is very proud of her and expressed his happiness on the matter. He mentioned that she had taken exams prior to this and did not pass, but remained persistent in her efforts and finally succeeded.

Right now, Spanou is waiting for her marching orders for the unit assignment she is expecting.

Cyprus and the UAE have been making efforts to strengthen their ties, and aviation is its latest initiative.

The Intercontinental Aviation Academy?s (IAA Global) subsidiary, the Intercontinental Aviation Enterprise FZ-LLC (IAE), has signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Cyprus Airways Flying Academy?s (CAFA) main operator MA Group.

The MoU was signed at the 2025 Dubai Airshow and kicked off the start of a new chapter between both organizations.

The agreement was then announced, where it was revealed that the partnership in question shall remain at the board level, and that the two companies will have a share exchange between them.

This brings forth the CAFA into the larger training network of IAA Global, while allowing its subsidiary IAE to expand its operations into Europe.

This new combined board will be responsible for overseeing matters such as the modernization of fleets, rolling out more updated training and learning programs, as well as developing new satellite bases in the near future.

According to Wissam Mehyou, the CEO of the IAE, the collaboration will mark a milestone for the company, changing how it’s seen and operates globally in the best way possible.

A bulldozer from the forest department in Turkish Cyprus has uprooted and badly damaged vegetation in the protected area of Afentrika in Karpasia.

According to Yeni Dzen, a newspaper published in Turkish Cyprus, several locals witnessed the mishap and were angry at the fact that many juniper and olive trees were irreparably damaged.

Ercan Poyraz, the director of the Forestry Department of Turkish Cyprus did confirm that the vehicle was government-issued but did not take any responsibility. According to Poyraz, the vehicle was on loan to the municipality of Yialousa-Rizokarpaso to conduct road works on the latter?s request, which makes the responsibility all theirs.

He further explained that after the municipality had taken the bulldozer, they had it fueled and then gave it to some private subcontractors, who then used it without any supervision.

Hasan Sarpten, who formerly served as the president of the Association of Biologists in the protected areas, called the whole situation as leaving the lamb in charge of a wolf.

Sarpten does not believe that the ?forest department? imposed any fines on any of the responsible parties. He further accused everyone involved, including the forest and environment departments, and the municipality itself of shrugging off blame and not caring about the damage they?ve done.

Cyprus is once again witnessing a boom in tourism, and its resulting revenue.

The month of August saw over 581 million euros worth of revenue coming in – more than fourteen percent from August 2024.

In the meantime, the island nation earned €2.47 billion revenue for travels between January to August 2025, which is more than 16.5% from the same time period in 2024.

The number of visitors have also increased significantly, from over 555,000 arrivals in August 2024 to 602,000 arrivals in August 2025.

Tourists in 2025 are also spending more than their 2024 counterparts. The average spend is €966 per tourist. The largest group of visitors – British nationals spent about €113 daily. Other major spenders include Israeli nations (€152 per day), and Polish tourists (€96 per day).

As a result of the boom, resorts and hotels are also enjoying more bookings and higher earnings. Pancyprian Federation of Leisure Facility Owners’ President Neophytos Thrasyvoulou stated that several hotels already reported being more than 80% occupied as early as September – which gave the industry at large great hope/

Thrasyvoulou emphasized on how support programs should be implemented for those running and working in the tourism industry so that business operations run smoothly and employees and staff’s employment sticks.

Poaching has served to become a crime of great concern in Larnaca and the latest findings only prove this to be true.

Cyprus’s Special Anti-Terrorist Squad (MMAD) led a fresh anti-poaching operation in Larnaca district’s Agios Theodoros, where they made significant findings.

The officers of the squad made a thorough search of the entire suspected area, and found a person having trapped several exotic wild birds in nets inside a fenced field.

Specifically, there were twenty-six birds trapped alive across seven nets. Four other nets were found uninstalled and stored away.

7 deceased wild birds were also found, along with 4 speakers, 2 speakers and a variety of other goods known to be used for poaching.

Further investigation by the Kofinou Police is currently underway.

Cyprus has offered to operationally support the Gaza plans set forth by United States President Donald J. Trump.

The island nation intends to avoid political involvement, and instead claims that it will contribute on the more practical aspects of the plan. The statement was given by Cyprus’ President Nikos Christodoulides himself while he was attending a dinner with several EU member state heads.

The President’s Press Office director Victor Papadopoulos revealed the news, saying that President Christodoulides also has Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the President of Egypt when he talked about their six-point-plan on how Cyprus will be involved in the future of Gaza.

The plan itself is based on Cyprus’ successes with the humanitarian aid corridor at Amalthea. It enumerated six pillars of operation that they have developed with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and the UAE.

Weeks prior to this, President Christodoulides had attended a Gaza-related summit in Sharm El-Sheikh. Here he showed great interest in having Cypriot companies get directly involved in the reconstruction of the war-torn Gaza. The six-point-plan, meant to align with Trump’s twenty-point-plan was highlighted here as well.

According to several sources from the Cypriot government itself, the plan’s details shall get clearer with the progression of Trump’s own peace plan and the subsequent evolution of Gaza’s situation.

A contractor working on the New Cyprus Museum project asked for an extension of a whopping five hundred days along with a hefty financial claim, which has attracted the attention of the Audit Office.

According to Transport House Committee members, the investigation is examining the timeline as well as procedures following within the project. This comes from a proposal sent by Members of Parliament Christos Orphanides of DIKO, Marinos Mousiouttas of DIPA and Dimitris Dimitriou of DISY.

DISY MP Dimitris Dimitriou has expressed his discontentment of the uncertainty. He has virtually rejected the contractor claiming that the delay has been caused by a combination of communication issues, worker strikes and bad weather.

AKEL MP Valentinos Fakontis revealed that he project has a total budget of €120 million project, and it has spent around €30 million so far. Timewise, thirty-four of the forty-two planned months have already passed. Fakontis also confirmed that the Public Works Department (PWD) has seen the request for extension, and that they along with the Audit Office shall be submitting their findings to the Cypriot Parliament soon. Fakontis emphasized that such oversight would eventually affect taxpayers.

Meanwhile, DIKO MP Savvides said that if the project continues at the speed it is now, the museum shall not complete any time before 2029.

Cyprus has resorted to borrowing in the short-term once again.

The island nation’s Finance Ministry’s Public Debt Management Office (PDMO) has announced auction of its Treasury Bills worth €25 million.

The Treasury Bills do not carry any interest and shall be valid from October 24, 2025 to January 23, 2026. Their issuance and subsequent auction is a part of the government making its best effort to keeping its finances in check and its liquidity on point.

Simply put, this is an attempt by the Cypriot government to raise some serious cash, by enticing potential investors who are on the lookout for a low-risk and safe opportunity.

The PDMO has said that only the bids made during the window allotted for auction shall be honored – anything outside of this shall be rejected without exception.

All issued Treasury Bills shall be publicly listed on Cyprus Stock Exchange, so that investors can trade with them seamlessly.

Despite not creating headlines, such auctions play a major role in helping the country maintain its finances.

The famous Cypriot sausage dish sheftalia has been awarded the accolade of being the world’s second-best sausage-based dish.

Famous platform Food Atlas ranked it, putting it above several classics such as Pigs in Blankets and Toad in the Hole. In fact, it was only outranked by Spetsofai, a dish from Greece.

The sheftalia is served with souvlakia in pita within a mixed kebab. The sausage itself contains minced lamb and pork, along with finely chopped parsley and onions – all of which are mixed and wrapped in caul fat (fatty lining in the stomach of animals like pigs, cows and sheep). It is prepared by seasoning the meat and aromatics with pepper, cinnamon and salt, shaping them into sausages and then grilling or skewering them. At this point the fat melts and the exterior becomes crisp, while the interior cooks and gets juicy and tender.

There is some debate on the origin of the dish’s name. Some say it comes from the seftali, a Turkish-language word meaning peach – owing to it being soft to touch. Yet others say it is named after the man who created it.

The other preparations that made Food Atlas’ Top Ten include Salchicha Parrillera and Chorizo a la Parrilla from Argentina, Currywurst from Germany, Ovos mexidos com Farinheir from Portugal, Rougail Saucisses from Madagascar and Nem Nuong from Vietnam.

Barbara, the storm which had been looming in the Mediterranean, has brought quite a bit of disturbance to Cyprus, leading to wide-range disruptions and causing roads to turn hazardous within hours of landfall.

The fire department in Paphos tended to two incidents – one involving a drain clearing and the other involving flooding at a hotel. The latter of these resolved on its own before the firefighters reached the scene. Other than this and intense rainfall, no other large-scale damage was reported.

In Famagusta and Larnaca, strong winds caused Electricity Authority Cables (EACs) to snap and cause sparks. Two teams comprising firefighters and EAC technicians fixed the issue in three separate locations where this had happened.

According to a statement by Charalambos Pittokopitis, the governor of Paphos, the storm did not cause any greater damage in the district at large. He mentioned that the intensive inspections carried out for the winters have largely to credit for this.

Meanwhile, several grates and drains were cleared in Yeroskipou as well as in Paphos.

Cyprus’ meteorological department had a yellow warning issued for the entire time the storm was in effect.

The Department of Environment of Cyprus has confirmed its approval of what will soon be the island nation’s first even HESS (Hybrid Energy Storage Systems)-powered battery energy storage system.

The plan in question is to construct a facility that can support over 59 Megawatts and run over 120 MWh in circulation.

The construction of this facility will greatly ease the burden on Cyprus, which today has the EU’s sole non-interconnected electricity grid.

Cyprus had been making the effort to improve its infrastructure – especially through an underwater cable link that would run from Israel to Greece via Cyprus. But it has since been stalled.

Between that and the increasing demand for electricity from all facets of life, as well as more frequent current outages, the Department of Environment decided to approve the installation of battery energy storage systems (BESS), which they hope can be done fast.

Not much later, Cyprus’ government-funded Electricity Authority (EAC) launched its own tender looking for a suitable contractor to power its BESS facilities.

So far, one private company has won the opportunity of making a planned investment.

Sprawled over 4.9-hectares, the facility is located in Larnaca’s Psevda, close to the 10.8 MW wind park in Ayia Anna.