In the removal of 14 km of barbed wire installed in 2021 along the Green Line the Cypriot government is expected to proceed to cut off immigration flows. Although no public statement has been made on this matter, information from DW reports that the Cypriot government, under the burden of this year’s report Antonio Guterres for the Cyprus issue, he finally decided to overturn the policy of the Anastasiades government on immigration, and to remove the barbed wire. Consequently, the cancellation of the additional projects that were planned for the extension of the barbed wire in other areas of the Green Line should also be considered a decision made.

Shots from Guterres

In the Guterres report, which was released a few days ago, reference is made for the second consecutive year to the “unauthorized 14-kilometer wire fence installed in the neutral zone in 2021, which, despite the protests of the UN mission in Cyprus, it has not been removed, despite indications that it would be.” Indeed, the government’s intention to remove the barbed wire had been announced since last summer, when the Minister of the Interior Konstantinos Ioannou called the barbed wire “inadequate, but also politically damaging for Cyprus”, since as he said, with its installation “we divide the same us the country”. Since then, however, no action has been taken, as a result of which the UN Secretary General included the issue in this year’s report on the Cyprus issue. Finally, it should be noted that the Christodoulidis government is under pressure to remove the barbed wire inside as well, mainly due to the letter of DISY president Annita Dimitriou, in which she called on President Christodoulidis to take measures for the Cyprus issue. Among the proposals of Mrs. Dimitriou was the removal of the barbed wire against the migratory flows.