Negotiations failed due to the territorial issues
The negotiations about the reunification of Cyprus have failed. On Tuesday, the two sides halted the negotiations at Mont Pelerin and returned back to the island.
There are 3 issues which remained unresolved: The territorial matter (what will remain under Turkish administration and what will be returned to the Greek-Cypriot government), relocation of refugees and the shore line.
Mustafa Akinci dis not want to compromise, or most likely, he did not secure the relevant permissions from Ankara. He blamed Anastasiades for his maximalism, essentially shifting the responsibility for the outcome of the negotiations in him. Additionally, he offered to conduct negotiations with participation of Turkey, Great Britain and Greece.
The President of Cyprus does not see much point in that, because it will only delay the process further. Moreover, patience is running out- Anastasiades and Akinci spent so much time together whilst preparing for the final round of negotiations, but they failed to find a consensus.
Right now, both sides are calling the current situation as “pause” in the process, yet neither is trying to conceal disappointment. The head of Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already expressed his support to the government of Cyprus. Mr. Sergey Lavrov also pointed out that the decision must be made considering the interests of both communities.
Cyprus took Chairmanship in the Council of Europe
Cyprus took the chairmanship in the Council of Europe for the next 6 months. The chairmanship was handed over to the Head of Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ioannis Kasoulides by his Estonean colleague in Strasbourg.
The Council of Europe is an organisations which brings together 47 countries of the continent, yet its activity of consultational character. The decisions and resolutions rendered by the Council do nto have to be followed by the members. Yet it is very prestigious to be a member of the Council.
Cyprus is member of the CoE from 1961.
Taxi drivers protested in Larnaca
The taxi drivers have organised a protest in Cyprus. The drivers, who work in the Larnaca Airport, have blocked the road towards the airport, yet only for 5 minutes. However, this was enough for them to express their demands.
The main one is to impose more rigorous control over the illegal drivers. According to the participants of the strike, the official taxi drivers bear a lot of official payments, such as purchase of license and insurance premiums.
Those, who are not working officially, do not make any contributions to the government and they are also putting the lives of passengers at risk.
Fasten the seat belts: Police is conducting checks on the roads.
The Cyprus Road Police decided to actively combat those drivers, who do not take their own safety seriously. In the end of November, the officers will be rigorously checking whether the drivers are using the seat belts in the vehicles.
According to the last year’s statistical data, more than 50% of the victims in the traffic accidents did not use seat belts. If they used them, they would probably be still alive today.
Police also warms that they will not only be checking the drivers, but also passengers both on the front and on the rear seats. Special attention will be paid to the use of the child seats. The violators will have to pay a significant fine.
Last week, a massive check of compliance with speed limits was done in Cyprus. Overall, 3,000 violations were recorded in 7 days.
