Greece and Cyprus discuss re-establishing sea link

THE GOVERNMENT has set up a committee to look into the feasibility of establishing a sea link with Greece, Communications Minister Haris Thrassou said yesterday.

The minister said the committee was processing a specific proposal in co-operation with the government of Greece.

“In the (recent) meeting I had with my Greek counterpart Manolis Kefaloyiannis, we established the lack of a sea link between Greece and Cyprus, something, which many Greeks and Cypriots demand, and we agreed to look into the possibility of setting up a ship route between the two countries,” Thrasou said.

Speaking after attending a House Communications Committee meeting, Thrassou noted that the details would be studied by a committee made up of officials from the two ministries.

The minister said that people wanting to travel to and from Greece, apart from flying, can only do so with cruise ships, Thrasou said.

But, it is understood that there are only cruises to the Greek islands and Greek authorities do not allow people to travel to the mainland if they are on an island cruise.

The direct link had been scrapped several years ago thus also depriving travellers of the chance to drive their car to Greece.

The establishment of a regular direct link is expected to bring costs down, the minister said.
He added that nothing had been decided yet, not even which port would be used.

“For the present time we just accepted the idea and will discuss the details,” he said.

The minister said the Larnaca port should have some priority but he added that he did not wish to commit at this point.

The two sides have scheduled a meeting before the end of the year to discuss the proposal and other maritime issues concerning the two countries.

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.