Brussels, Belgium. Cyprus has requested EU financial support and the immediate start of vaccinations to address a foot-and-mouth outbreak, with 500,000 vaccines earmarked for Cyprus expected to be sent on Tuesday.
Meetings with commissioners
On Monday, Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou met in Brussels with the health and agriculture commissioners, Olivér Várhelyi and Christophe Hansen, who responded positively to Cyprus’ request for help.
“I have requested financial help from both for our farmers. There was a positive response from both, so the official procedure will begin,” Panayiotou said.
Vaccine delivery and next steps
Panayiotou said she asked for vaccines to be sent to Cyprus immediately, and Várhelyi responded positively and said the process would begin on Tuesday.
Várhelyi will be in Cyprus this week for other purposes, “but we will combine things”, Panayiotou added.
According to Panayiotou, the commissioner said there were half a million vaccines available for Cyprus at this moment.
EU support and assessment
In a post on X, Várhelyi said “our priority is to contain the outbreak fast and support farmers”.
He added that “we will also support Cyprus with all the available EU tools, including funding and compensation options.”
Asked about vaccines delivered to the north on February 13, Várhelyi said “it is too early to make an assessment”.
Possible on-site expert team
An EU official told the Cyprus News Agency that the European Commission could deploy on-site expert support to Cyprus in the form of an EUVET team, which would be arriving in Cyprus on Tuesday.
What measures do you want authorities to prioritise to contain the outbreak and support farmers?
