Nicosia

Eurozone finance ministers will approve on Thursday the disbursement of the next tranche of bailout loans for Cyprus after the country met the remaining two conditions for the payout, a document prepared for the meeting showed.

On a lightning visit to Athens on Wednesday, the United Nations mediator for the Cyprus problem, Espen Barth Eide, said the presence of a Turkish seismic vessel off the island’s coast was hampering the resumption of stalled peace talks and fueling tensions.

Israel said on Wednesday it supported attempts by neighboring Cyprus to carry out natural gas exploration offshore, in spite of objections from Turkey challenging the endeavor.

Cyprus, a member of the European Union, has discovered sizable gas deposits south of the island toward Israel, which has made massive hydrocarbon finds in the past decade.

Cyprus has the right to conduct oil and gas exploratory drilling in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has said.

Lieberman, who made the comment after talks between Cypriot and Israeli diplomats met in Nicosia on Wednesday, added that all states in the region should respect international laws and sovereignty.

Cyprus said on Tuesday it hopes to re-establish a flow of aid from international lenders after some issues were resolved in a disputed foreclosures bill that lenders demanded for funds to be released.

Cyprus's finance minister said on Tuesday the downturn on the island appeared to have bottomed out, after the economy showed an improvement over the past four quarters.

"The long recession seems to have run its course," Harris Georgiades told a conference in Nicosia.

NICOSIA - The eurozone risks a loss of economic momentum and a delayed recovery unless governments match the European Central Bank's monetary stimulus with fiscal and structural policies to support growth, ECB policymaker Benoit Coeure said on Tuesday.

As Turkey fuels fears in the eastern Mediterranean by insisting on maintaining the seismic survey vessel Barbaros off the southern coast of Cyprus, Washington has expressed its concern over renewed tensions in the region and has underlined its support for Nicosia’s sovereignty and right to develop resources in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The Supreme Court of Cyprus on Friday ruled as unconstitutional four bills on bank foreclosures whose passage by Parliament prompted international lenders to halt payments on the country’s 10-billion-euro bailout.

The decision should open the way for Nicosia to receive the next tranche of 436 million euros, which was blocked last month.

A decision by Turkey’s top security body to maintain its presence off the southern coast of Cyprus, where Cypriot authorities already have a license to drill for oil and gas, has heightened fears of tensions climaxing in the region if the Turkish seismic survey vessel Barbaros moves into other areas.