Conscripts with foreign mothers to serve equally

THE government on Wednesday approved an amendment to the National Guard law that ends discrimination in relation with the duration of service among people with one foreign parent.

The amendment provides that young recruits with one foreign parent will have to do the full service of 24 months.

The current law provides that people born between August 16, 1960 and June 11, 1999, to a foreign father and a Cypriot mother do a reduced service if they gained the Cypriot nationality through their mother.

Under the same conditions, those born to a foreign mother and Cypriot father and who gained nationality through their father have to do the full service.

The amendment does not affect the rights or obligations stemming from current legal provisions, according to a cabinet announcement.

This includes individuals already summoned to enlist or have either served or are currently serving less time, or have already been informed they have no obligation to serve.

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.