Among other things, the European official noted that especially with regard to halloumi, it is a message of hope beyond the positive data for the increase in transit and trade
Speaking to a delegation of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot journalists in Brussels, Kiartan Bjornson, head of the Support Unit for the Cyprus Resolution, referred to the Commission's assessment and goal that the Turkish Cypriot community should be able to export halloumi to the standards of the protected designation of origin from June 2024. in the Commission's Directorate General for Reforms.
As Mr. Bjornsson mentioned, the goal shared by the Commission “is by June 2024 the first Turkish Cypriot halloumi in compliance with the PDO to cross the Green Line “, while expressing the hope that the Turkish Cypriot community's successful compliance with EU health standards regarding halloumi will help the public debate on the Cyprus issue.
Among other things, the European official noted that especially with regard to halloumi, it is a message of hope beyond the positive data for the increase in crossings and trade, as it shows that the Turkish Cypriot community is capable and willing to adopt EU standards.
Speaking to journalists, Mr. Bjornsson said that it would be a good idea to promote through EU programs for media cooperation, while he referred to the recent bi-community initiative of professional translators as a good example of cooperation on technical and professional issues beyond politics.
Mr Bjornsson referred extensively to the community and infrastructure support programs as well as confidence-building measures to which the Commission contributes, such as the operation of the IEA and the Technical Committee for Cultural Heritage, as well as scholarships for F/F and F/F students.
He also presented the latest figures on the number of Green Line crossings, which will reach 5.8 million in 2022, an increase after a sharp decline in period of the pandemic (1.4 million crossings in 2020 and 2.3 million crossings in 2021), without yet reaching the levels of 2019 (7.2 million crossings).
According to same data, trade through the Green Line reached a record 14.6 million euros, marking a large increase not only in relation to 2020 (4.7 million euros) and 2021 (6.1 million euros) but and in relation to 2019 (5.5 million euros).
