EU to support efforts against virus in the north

The EU pledged on Wednesday its support to the Turkish Cypriot community in their efforts against the coronavirus pandemic.

The president of the European Commission Ursula Von Der Leyen made the announcement in a letter addressed to Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci in response to a call for help he had made at the end of March.

According to reports from media outlets in the north, Von Der Leyen said the European Commission is working alongside the World Bank on a plan to support small businesses and self-employed people who were most affected in the latest period.

“The pandemic has forced humanity to deal with an unprecedented situation so we must all do our part and work together throughout these difficult times,” Von Der Leyen’s letter to Akinci said.

She said that €2.5mln are about to be made available to the north for the purchase of medical equipment, adding that the European Commission is also planning to financially support 25 health workers for the next three months, with aid to farmers next on the cards.

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.