-
EU indecision led Cyprus to allow in UK visitors, says minister

Tourism industry could not wait for clarity from Brussels about Covid-19 immunity certificates
Cyprus’s decision to allow vaccinated Britons entry to the country ahead of the rest of the EU was spurred by the bloc’s reluctance to take a decisive stance on Covid-19 immunity certificates, a tourism minister has said.
Explaining why the country had broken ranks with other EU members by deciding to admit Britons with the certificate from 1 May, Savvas Perdios told the Guardian that visitors, holidaymakers, and the travel industry all “needed clarity”, which the step sought to deliver.
“We felt that we had to announce it because we don’t know when an agreement will be reached at a European level,” Perdios said. “For people who are going to be travelling here, we wanted to provide certainty that Cyprus is going to be ready to welcome them. Travel planning requires certainty.”
The move, unveiled late on Thursday, came as the bloc struggled to forge a united front on “vaccine passports” first proposed by Greece in January. Tourist-reliant countries on Europe’s south-east fringe appear increasingly willing to act independently as they desperately seek to salvage industries battered by the pandemic.Cyprus draws 13% of its national income from tourism, and 10% of its workforce is employed in the sector.
Before the pandemic, Britons far surpassed all other arrivals to the former British colony, ethnically split between Greeks in the south and Turks in the north since 1974.
An estimated 1.3 million UK tourists visited the south in 2019 – almost twice the local population. As in Greece, which had attracted record numbers before the pandemic but suffered a massive drop last year, tourism in Cyprus was pummelled in 2020.
In February, Nicosia and Athens reached a deal with Israel allowing citizens with Covid-19 vaccination certificates to travel unimpeded between the three countries. The accord is expected to come into effect at the end of this month.
Perdios said Anglo-Cypriot teams were already in talks to discuss the details of how vaccine passports would work as part of a similar bilateral agreement with the UK.
“It’s a matter of technicalities as to what the certificate will look like. We’ll have further meetings in the next few days and weeks to finalise everything,” he said, emphasising that Greek Cypriot authorities were prepared to be flexible about what format the document eventually took. “We will use whatever the UK government wants us to use. It is the UK that will decide whether the certificate will be digital or whether it will be a certificate from a GP … We will not be asking to have a vaccine certificate based on our design.”
Bookings to the island have risen since Boris Johnson announced his government’s roadmap out of England’s third national lockdown.
Although 17 May was set as the earliest possible date for the resumption of international travel by the British leader, Perdios said Nicosia had also decided to include the UK in quarantine-free travel as of next month. Since the emergence of Covid-19 variants, all non-essential travel out of the UK has been banned, with rare exceptions.
But with Greek Cypriot authorities mindful of the island’s large community of British expatriates, Perdios said anyone arriving from the UK as of 1 April would be given special dispensation in line with restrictions recently lifted for incomers from the EU. This week the island began accepting travellers based on a country categorisation system with colour codes defining the epidemiological caseload of each member state.
“No matter which category
Cyprus has said that inoculated visitors will have to have had two jabs, both approved by the European Medicines Agency.
Tourists who contract the virus in the country will continue to be covered by the Cypriot government, with the state picking up “all costs” for them and their dependants in a repeat of a scheme initiated last year.
“But we are not only opening up to vaccinated travellers,” Perdios added. “Everybody will be allowed to travel here, with or without certificates, and of course the date of travel depends on the UK government and when it decides to allow outbound travel.”
source: Helena Smith
Levant
You May Also Like
Popular Posts
Caricature
BENEFIT Sponsors BuildHer...
- April 23, 2025
BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
BENEFIT’s Chief Executive Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi, commented: “Our support for this educational hackathon reflects our long-term strategic vision to nurture the talents of emerging national youth and empower the next generation of accomplished female leaders in technology. By fostering creativity and innovation, we aim to contribute meaningfully to Bahrain’s comprehensive development goals and align with the aspirations outlined in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030—an ambition in which BENEFIT plays a central role.”
Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager, PR & Communication at BENEFIT, said: “We are honoured to collaborate with RUW in supporting this remarkable technology-focused event. It highlights our commitment to social responsibility, and our ongoing efforts to enhance the digital and innovation capabilities of young Bahraini women and foster their ability to harness technological tools in the service of a smarter, more sustainable future.”
For his part, Dr. Humam ElAgha, Acting Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at the University, said: “BuildHer CityHack 2025 embodies our hands-on approach to education. By tackling real-world problems through creative thinking and sustainable solutions, we're preparing women to thrive in the knowledge economy – a cornerstone of the University's vision.”
opinion
Report
ads
Newsletter
Subscribe to our mailing list to get the new updates!