Cyprus could benefit more from EU’s rescue programme, Stylianides says

Cyprus could benefit even more from the implementation of the European Civil Protection Mechanism rescEU, European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides) said on Friday.

Opening the virtual reality exhibition “EU Saves Lives” in Nicosia, in the presence of Interior Minister Constantinos Petrides, the Commissioner said Cyprus was one of the countries which has both contributed to and benefited from rescEU.

At the exhibition, visitors used virtual reality headsets and motion chairs to experience humanitarian crises and natural disasters. Three 360-degree videos simulate a refugee camp in Bangladesh, fighting a fire which is out of control, and a school in a Kenyan refugee camp

According to Stylianides, since 2011 Cyprus has activated the Mechanism five times, the last being in 2016 for a fire in Solea. Furthermore, Cyprus has responded to calls for help from Greece and Israel.

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.