PEACEKEEPING operations in Cyprus cost over $41 million last year, it was reported yesterday.
Expenditure for the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for the period July 1, 2001 – June 30, 2002 reached $41,644,500, according to the latest UN performance report on the Cyprus peacekeeping force budget.
The expenditure includes $1.3 million from the government of Cyprus.
The report contended that bicommunal contact had increased last year, with 7,300 Cypriots from both sides participating in the largest-ever celebration of United Nations Day, as well as some 4,300 young people from the two communities participating in a youth event.
Meetings with civilian authorities on both sides also took place at various levels.
Regarding progress towards normalisation of the buffer zone, the report noted there had been an increase in co-operation between the communities in the mixed village of Pyla and across the ceasefire line. Cypriots from both sides, for example, came together in an agreement to resume repairs to a section of the Nicosia city wall at Roccas Bastion.
The Civilian Police’s reprioritisation of resources led to support in direct talks between President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash. They provided press and police liaison officers at each session of the talks from December 2001 until the end of the reporting period.
As for security, the goal to ensure maintenance of the ceasefire in Cyprus was met with a calm situation reported both within the buffer zone and 1,000 meters adjacent to both ceasefire lines.
UNFICYP’s mandate in Cyprus was established by Security Council resolution 186 of March 4, 1964.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
