President Christodoulides holds emergency meeting on foot-and-mouth disease

President Nikos Christodoulides convened an emergency meeting at the Presidential Palace to address the ongoing outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the Larnaca district. Government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis announced that four specific action lines have been established, with implementation beginning immediately. The President plans to communicate personally with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to discuss containment strategies. While the government maintains its support for affected livestock farmers, officials confirmed that mandatory culling protocols must continue in accordance with both national and European regulations. The Cabinet previously approved an advance payment of 50,000 euros per livestock unit to assist farmers. Vaccines for pigs arrived from Germany on Saturday, while bovine vaccines were provided by Turkish Cypriot authorities last month. A follow-up meeting with stakeholders is scheduled for later this week to further refine the strategy.