TRNC president rejects EU vaccines if delivered via south Cyprus

TRNC president, Ersin Tatar on Wednesday said the TRN will not accept coronavirus vaccines reserved for it if delivered via southern Cyprus unless they are delivered directly via the EU.

According local media reports, Tatar said after a meeting with UN’s special representative Elizabeth Spehar that they discussed the work of the bicommunal technical committees and that he had requested assistance from the UN over the vaccines that have been secured for the TRNC by the EU.

Part of the vaccines reserved by the EU for Cyprus are to be delivered to the TRNC.

Stating that it is the EU that is the community’s interlocutor on this issue and not the Greek Cypriot side, Tatar said that the report presented to them by the technical committee on health on Wednesday stated that the vaccines could be delivered by the Greek Cypriot side. He added that they would not accept this and that these vaccines should be given directly via the EU.

Kibris Postasi, citing information, reported that the first batch of vaccines to be sent to the TRNC will be about 2,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine. The vaccines are expected to be delivered to the TRNC soon, but no exact date was given for this.

This statement was condemned by several politicians who accused him of playing politics with human lives.