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181. Cyprus wants clean slate in naturalizations

The government in the Republic of Cyprus has laid out a new blueprint for naturalizations of foreign investors and skilled immigrants, pointing to a departure from the country’s disgraced golden passport scheme while respecting the EU position on citizenship criteria...

182. Athens taps Cypriot ex-commissioner for Cabinet

The Greek government confirmed on Monday that former European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Christos Stylianides, will head the newly formed Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Ministry...

183. Al Jazeera publishes prequel to The Cyprus Papers

A new documentary by Al Jazeera on football corruption in Britain includes allegations that a Cypriot minister flew to London to arrange paperwork at a consular office for a Russian national who was wanted by Interpol and unable to travel under his real name...

184. Putin wants UN guarantees for Cyprus

Russian President Vladimir Putin says breaches of UN resolutions on Cyprus are 'inadmissible' in a letter response to his Cypriot counterpart, adding that Moscow backs a federation-based settlement and calls for all permanent members of the Security Council to take on guarantees for the island...

185. Nicosia, Ankara worlds apart over resolution

Nicosia has welcomed a Security Council resolution that renewed the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Cyprus and also delved into other aspects of the Cyprus Problem, with Ankara crying foul and saying the UN violated its own rules...

186. Anastasiades feels vindicated by passport probe

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades says a final report on the island’s disgraced golden passport scheme has alleged no deceit on his part, with the commander in chief apologizing for mistakes made under his administration which he attributed to lack of regulations and oversight over the years...

187. Jho Low wanted to be a Cypriot banker

A British investigative journalist told an audience in Nicosia that Cypriot-naturalized financier Jho Low had tried to use contacts with Kuwaitis to buy a bank on the island where the Malaysian fugitive could launder stolen money...

188. Legal defends blacked out passport report

The Legal department in the Republic of Cyprus has issued its final report on golden passports, but its decision to include privacy issues as a reason to black out information has come under media scrutiny...

189. Cyprus’ passport committee issues final report

Over half of the golden passports approved by the President’s Cabinet in the Republic of Cyprus were illegal, a special committee has found, and it is now up to the attorney general to ascertain whether any ministers may have had fraudulent intent...

190. Legal battle heats up in golden passports

The top two chief law enforcers in the Republic of Cyprus are taking the parliament to court over a resolution, in which members called on the two officials to recuse themselves in the golden passport probe after raising conflict of interest issues...

191. Tatar on defense over PassportGate

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar says he would give up his Republic of Cyprus documents if there was a way, following new political controversy over citizenship on the divided island, with the newly-elected chief clarifying there were many reasons why his constituents in the north use passports issued in the south...

192. Cypriot leaders exchange jabs after Geneva

Republic of Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades says his administration will embark on a global campaign to elicit reactions to positions put forth by Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, with the two leaders on the divided island not shying away from taking serious jabs at each other...

193. Syllouris declines questions in passport probe

A former Cypriot parliamentary speaker secretly filmed in an expose on a now discredited cash-for-passports scheme declined to answer questions on Wednesday into his role in a scandal which rocked the island nation...

194. Stars in Al Jazeera video face committee

195. Director wants passport probe clear his name

A civil servant, whose name was dropped by the former House speaker during a secret video recording by Al Jazeera, says he did not get involved with golden passports during his tenure as director of the interior ministry, vowing to take legal action if an investigative committee failed to clear his name...

196. Interim report on golden passports delivered

An interim report on the golden passport scandal in the Republic of Cyprus says just over half of citizenships granted by the executive branch were not approved lawfully...

197. Gloves are off again over golden passports

Cyprus’ auditor general told a House committee this week that the Cabinet used old rules to approve over two hundred golden passports after the cutoff date for an investigation ordered by the attorney general, who pushed back on the criticism saying there was 'no bottom to the abyss'...

198. Damning State Dep. report highlights Cyprus human rights issues

A US State Department country report on human rights practices in 2020 proved damning for Cyprus which was found to have had significant human rights issues last year....

199. Russia says backdoor Cyprob plan by UK 'unacceptable'

Imposing a blueprint for a Cyprus settlement from the outside is unacceptable, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova said Thursday, commenting on reports suggesting a backdoor ‘British plan’ for settling the Cyprus Problem....

200. Defying clampdown, Cyprus activists to protest again over graft

Anti-corruption campaigners in Cyprus will protest again on Feb. 20, they said on Tuesday, after a violent clampdown by police at an event on Feb. 13 drew widespread condemnation....

201. Emails from Cyprus connect dots on Jho Low

New information published by OCCRP suggests that Henley & Partners identified Jho Low as a high-risk client but worked with him anyway through a Cypriot company to get him a golden passport...

202. Former AG says he cautioned over passports

The state’s former attorney general says his department had cautioned the government years ago that the country’s golden passport scheme might have been incompatible with European law, essentially contradicting the executive branch's position that nobody had said anything...

203. President blames CIP failure on recklessness

Cyprus’ disgraced Citizenship by Investment Programme took a heavy toll after it was 'recklessly promoted' overseas, according to President Nicos Anastasiades, who testified on Tuesday before an independent committee, while telling reporters later that he would not revisit the matter until after probe findings are concluded...

204. Anastasiades takes the stand in passports probe

Cyprus’ citizenship by investment scheme will not be revived but other incentives will be given to attract investments, excluding citizenship, President Nicos Anastasiades said on Tuesday, following a 3-hour-long testimony before the investigative committee probing Cyprus’ nixed citizenship-by-investment scheme....

205. Cyprus president testifies on golden passports

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades is expected to testify on Tuesday before the independent committee probing corruption allegations in the country’s golden passport scheme, just days after he lashed out at critics during a national address on the fight against corruption...

206. Cyprus unveils plan to tackle corruption

Cyprus’ fight against corruption is based on three pillars, President Anastasiades said Friday, announcing the eagerly-awaited steps the government will take in a bid to restore credibility to the Republic after its reputation was shattered by revelations of corruption through the nixed Citizenship-by-Investment Program (CIP)....

207. 15 law firms being audited for involvement in 'golden passports'

Interesting new details on the involvement of law firms in the island’s disgraced citizenship-by-investment programme were presented before the Investigative Committee by the head of the Cyprus Bar Association, Christos Clerides....

208. Lawyer says Al Jazeera took him out of context

Cypriot attorney Andreas Pittadjis, who was targeted in an Al Jazeera undercover investigation into allegations of corruption over golden passports, took to social media to reiterate his position he did nothing illegal, accusing the foreign network of being dishonest...

209. Dueling small parties help pass budget

The House in the Republic of Cyprus approved a revision of the government’s 2021 state budget on Thursday, following a month of consultations between the administration and small opposition parties that offered additional amendments to the bill...

210. Former FinMin tells passport probe he shares part of blame

Former Finance Minister Harris Georgiades told the independent investigative committee probing the citizenships by exception granted via the Republic’s nixed ‘golden passports’ program that “as a member of the Council of Ministers, I have a portion of the blame”. ...