Cyprus

Efforts to find a just solution to the age-old Cyprus problem are on hold yet again. This time, the tension emerged in early October as a result of the exploration activities by a Bahamian-registered ship, the SAIPEM 10.000, on the behalf of the Republic of Cyprus (RoC).

Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos announced on Wednesday that Greece is planning to boost its naval presence in the Eastern Mediterranean with a frigate and a submarine but said the move would be a contribution to NATO and United Nations-backed missions in the region, not a response to a Turkish bid to prospect in waters where Cyprus already has a license to drill for oil and gas.

The foreign ministers of Cyprus, Greece and Egypt meet Wednesday in Nicosia as a row over rights to hydrocarbons in the eastern Mediterranean continues.

The meeting between Ioannis Kasoulides, Evangelos Venizelos and Sameh Hassan Shoukry takes place as part of preparations for a trilateral summit between the leaders of the three countries in Cairo on November 8.

Greece will send a frigate and a submarine to the eastern Mediterranean region under its UN and NATO obligations, Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos has said.

Venizelos, who is also deputy prime minister, made the statement on Wednesday after a meeting with Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades in Nicosia.

The governments of Egypt, Greece and Greek Cyprus have urged Turkey to stop trying to chart gas deposits in areas of the east Mediterranean claimed by Greek Cyprus, saying the work was illegal.

Greek Cyprus, a European Union member, is anxious to develop the gas reserves in its so-called exclusive economic zone (EEZ), an offshore region lying south of the island.

Results of stress tests on Cyprus’s banking sector have shown a re-establishment of stability in the banking sector, and could expedite the complete lifting of capital controls, Finance Minister Harris Georgiades (photo) said.

“It won’t be tomorrow but we shall commence the process of lifting the very last restrictions soon, in a gradual and staged manner,” Georgiades told Reuters.

A day after Turkish fighter jets violated Greece’s national air space in the Aegean in a show of force, outgoing Defense Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos on Tuesday underlined that the Greek armed forces would protect the country’s interests.

A former governor of Cyprus's Central Bank was sentenced to five months in jail on Monday on charges of evading tax on earnings following his retirement.

Christodoulos Christodoulou, who led the Cypriot central bank for five years prior to his departure in 2007, had pleaded guilty to failing to declare revenue of a consultancy he jointly owned with his daughter.

Turkish Cypriots will be heading to a presidential election next April, the campaign of which will apparently be very colorful.

A cruise liner returning from Greece was pressed into action in rough seas off Cyprus Thursday to rescue some 300 people thought to be Syrian refugees whose trawler had run into trouble.