Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou met separately with two Greek ministers in Athens on Friday to discuss civil protection and housing issues.

In the morning, Ioannou met with Greece’s Climate Crisis Minister Vassilis Kikilias. The two ministers exchanged updates on how their countries handle emergency situations and civil protection.

Ioannou explained Cyprus’ plan to reorganise its civil protection system. The goal, he said, is to upgrade the civil defence force into a new civil protection directorate, improving coordination and crisis response. He also noted that Cyprus is working with French experts to enhance its emergency management system.

Kikilias outlined Greece’s national civil protection programme, known as Aigis, which includes infrastructure upgrades and technical improvements.

He highlighted a €2 billion budget, mostly sourced from European Union funds, aimed at enhancing civil protection skills and knowledge. He also presented Greece’s national crisis management and risk response mechanism, which covers the entire disaster management cycle.

Both sides reviewed progress on the memorandum of understanding signed last April on the European emergency number 112. Kikilias noted that Greece is updating its system to integrate artificial intelligence, while Ioannou thanked Greece for its support in helping Cyprus implement the system.

Later in the day, Ioannou met with Greece’s Social Cohesion Minister Sofia Zacharaki. The pair agreed to explore the idea of hosting a joint European conference on housing.

The ministers welcomed the inclusion of housing under the portfolio of European energy commissioner Dan Jorgensen and pledged to push for the creation of a dedicated housing task force within the European Commission.

Ioannou presented Cyprus’ housing policies, including incentives to expand housing stock and schemes to support young people and families. Zacharaki discussed Greece’s My Home II scheme, which subsidises housing interest rates using national and EU funds.

They also examined the Renovate-Rent scheme, which operates in both countries with some differences, and looked at ways to improve it.

Finally, both ministers acknowledged the challenges posed by rising foreign investment in real estate and the impact of Airbnb on housing markets.