Cyprus’ Audit Office has warned that town planning exemptions risk becoming the rule rather than the exception, undermining urban planning policies and potentially allowing unauthorised developments to be legalised retrospectively.

In a special report published on Wednesday, auditor-general Andreas Papaconstantinou raised concerns over the granting of planning permits that deviate from established development plans, following an examination of procedures between 2020 and 2023.

“The findings of this report raise reasonable concerns that, gradually, the exception risks becoming the rule,” Papaconstantinou said in the foreword to the report.

He stressed that the provision allowing planning permits to be granted by derogation was introduced to address exceptional circumstances, not to operate as a second, parallel planning system or a means of circumventing development plans.

During the period examined, 633 applications for planning exemptions were considered, including 259 relating to the construction of individual homes, of which 139 were approved.

The Audit Office warned that allowing homes to be built outside designated development boundaries could undermine planning consistency and the protection of agricultural land.

Exemption precedent

Papaconstantinou cautioned that each exemption could set a precedent for subsequent applications, gradually weakening the planning framework.

“A single house outside development boundaries can become an argument for a second and a third, until the planning framework established by the state is overturned, not through an institutional review, but through the accumulation of exceptions,” he said.

The report identified significant delays in processing applications, inconsistencies in decision-making and cases where planning regulations were not followed.

It also found that assessment criteria were broadly worded, leaving room for different interpretations, while differences between recommendations made by planning authorities and the Council for the Study of Derogations (Symepa) were not always adequately justified.

Among the most concerning findings were cases in which the cabinet, following recommendations from Symepa, approved planning exemptions for developments that had already been carried out without the necessary permits.

One case involved premises in an industrial zone in Larnaca district that had been licensed as warehouses but were operating as a supermarket.

Previous applications to change the property’s use had been rejected in 2012 and 2014, and two enforcement notices had been issued.

The planning authority again recommended rejecting the application, warning that approval could be seen as rewarding unauthorised development.

Ignoring development plans

According to the report, Symepa itself acknowledged that the development substantially affected the overall strategy of the applicable development plan, encouraged unregulated development and undermined fundamental planning provisions.

Nevertheless, it recommended granting a temporary four-year planning permit, which the cabinet approved.

The Audit Office noted that, at the time of its report, the supermarket appeared to be continuing operations without the temporary permit having been issued, as the applicant had not completed the necessary procedures.

Another case concerned a house built without permission on high-quality agricultural land within an irrigation scheme in Famagusta district.

The Audit Office found insufficient evidence that key claims used to justify the positive recommendation had been adequately examined.

The report also referred, for completeness, to a separate case outside the scope of the audit involving 20 houses built without the required permits outside a residential zone in Limassol district.

Symepa recommended approving the applications subject to compensatory measures, and the cabinet granted planning permission on February 8, 2023.

The Audit Office referred the case to the Independent Authority Against Corruption on June 27, 2024.

The audit also highlighted substantial differences between the assessments of planning authorities and Symepa, despite both examining the same information.

Disagreement between authorities

Between 2020 and 2023, Symepa departed from the planning authorities’ recommendations in 90 out of 627 cases, representing 14.35 per cent. In 2023 alone, the proportion rose to 21.4 per cent.

The Audit Office stressed that disagreement between two competent authorities was not necessarily a weakness, but said significant departures from technical assessments must be clearly justified.

“When the final conclusion differs substantially from the technical views presented, the administrative file should clearly demonstrate the reasoning that led to a different assessment of the same facts and criteria,” the report said.

Significant delays were also recorded, with the average time required to examine applications ranging between 25 and 31 months during the period under review.

However, processing times varied considerably, with some applications completed in less than three months and others taking more than ten years.

Stephen Hubbard was a wanderer. But when he moved to Ukraine, the war brought arrest, torture and imprisonment. He turns 73 this week.

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© Lynsey Addario for The New York Times

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NATO's Military Committee, the Alliance's highest military body, visited Kyiv on 6 October to reaffirm support for Ukraine, its chair, Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, said. It was the committee's first official visit to Ukraine's capital in eight years. The officers came to hear how Ukraine is fighting Russia and to draw lessons for NATO's own defense, and Dragone used the visit to warn Moscow.

Russia's war no longer stays inside Ukraine: its drones, saboteurs, and pressure campaigns increasingly reach NATO members. That turns Ukraine, the only European army facing Russia in combat, from a country the Alliance helps into one it learns from.

All 32 allies at the table

Dragone brought the military representatives of all 32 member states to hear the latest battlefield assessment directly from Ukraine's commander-in-chief, Mykhailo Drapatyi, and his staff. They also came to learn what more NATO can do to support Ukraine, he said in an address recorded in Kyiv.

"After eight years, the NATO Military Committee comes back to Kyiv for an official visit. But while we were not physically present here, Ukraine is in our thoughts, in our discussions, in our decisions and following action every single day," Dragone said.

The visit fulfilled a promise he made to Drapatyi during their last conversation in August, the admiral said. It also follows a June visit to Kyiv by the North Atlantic Council, NATO's main political decision-making body. "We are here in full strength with a clear message. The bond between NATO and Ukraine is stronger and stronger," he said.

With the whole NATO Military Committee, we visited Kyiv, yesterday, to reaffirm unwavering support for #Ukraine.

Discussions with Major General Drapatyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, focussed on Ukraine’s military priorities and lessons learned to strengthen… pic.twitter.com/kar2l1Xlq4

— Admiral Giuseppe CAVO DRAGONE - NATO CMC (@CMC_NATO) October 7, 2026

Lessons from Ukraine's commanders

The talks with Drapatyi focused on Ukraine's military priorities and lessons learned to strengthen Allied preparedness for current and future threats, Dragone wrote on X. The delegation also paid respects at the Wall of Remembrance of the Fallen for Ukraine in Kyiv.

In his address, Dragone said Ukraine's courageous and resilient spirit remains unbreakable and serves as an example to other nations.

"An example that combines with all the lessons we can learn from your commanders, from their experience, which will ultimately help our Alliance too to better face today's and tomorrow's threats," he said.

To Russia: "You are failing"

Dragone also addressed Russia directly. NATO stands unwavering with Ukraine in the face of Russia's continued aggression and its reckless hybrid activities in member countries, he said.

"To those who think that by perpetrating acts of sabotage, cyberattacks, and violation of the airspace in national NATO territory they will undermine this support and our resolve, I will respond: You are failing. NATO support for Ukraine continues to grow, and our unity is stronger than ever."

Russia bears full responsibility for such dangerous and unacceptable behavior, and allies will keep sharpening their tools and strengthening deterrence and defense, the admiral added.

Drapatyi became Ukraine's commander-in-chief in July, when President Volodymyr Zelenskyy replaced Oleksandr Syrskyi after a week of political turmoil.

Kyiv under fire, Russian troops pushed back near Lyman

The day after the visit, Russia struck Kyiv and 12 oblasts with about 70 missiles. In recent weeks, Russian attacks have cratered the capital's bridges and hit a school, a café, and warehouses, as well as a maternity hospital. Ukrainian troops also retook ground near Lyman in the Vivaldi counteroffensive.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has warned that Russia is intensifying hybrid operations across Europe, citing sabotage attempts, airspace violations and Russian drones and missiles crossing into Moldovan territory.

Her intervention adds pressure for a more coordinated European response to hostile activity below the threshold of conventional warfare.

Russia is putting lives at risk across Europe through an expanding campaign of hybrid activity, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday, after another series of Russian drones and missiles entered Moldovan airspace.

Speaking in Brussels alongside Moldovan Prime Minister Vasile Tofan and Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos, Kallas said Europe had experienced an increase in sabotage attempts and airspace violations during recent weeks.

“Russian missiles and drones violated Moldovan airspace again over the weekend,” she said, describing the incidents as unacceptable.

According to the official EU record of the press conference, Kallas said the Kremlin was seeking to create fear and interfere with European decision-making, and argued that the response should include greater resilience and continued support for Ukraine.

Her remarks follow Russia’s renewed large-scale attacks against Ukraine’s energy system and continued reports of drones crossing borders beyond Ukrainian territory.

Moldova’s defence authorities reported that three drones entered Moldovan airspace during Russia’s 30 September attack on Ukraine. Moldova, which shares a long border with Ukraine and is seeking EU membership, has repeatedly accused Moscow of attempting to destabilise the country.

The latest incidents broaden a European debate that has been developing for months: how governments should respond to hostile operations that are deliberate and potentially dangerous but fall short of an overt military attack.

EU Today reported on 28 September that European governments were discussing an emergency security protocol intended to improve coordination when member states face sabotage and other hybrid threats.

That followed earlier warnings concerning suspected attacks on infrastructure, cyber operations, interference campaigns and airspace violations across several European countries.

The problem is partly one of attribution and partly one of thresholds.

A conventional armed attack on a NATO member may trigger consultation under Article 4 or, in sufficiently serious circumstances, collective defence provisions under Article 5. The European Union also has its own mutual assistance provision under Article 42.7 of the Treaty on European Union.

Hybrid activity is frequently designed to remain below those thresholds.

Cyberattacks, covert sabotage, GPS interference, disinformation, drones and operations conducted through intermediaries can impose costs without giving governments an obvious basis for a military response.

Kallas’s warning comes as Germany has also reported an increase in activity it attributes to Russia.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has warned that Germany faces growing hybrid pressure involving drones and cyber operations. European security services have separately investigated suspected Russian involvement in sabotage and attacks on infrastructure in several countries.

Moscow has denied Western accusations that it is directing such operations.

The EU has already used sanctions against individuals and entities accused of Russian hybrid activity, while governments are considering faster systems for sharing intelligence and attributing incidents.

EU Today examined the debate in September as the European Parliament considered proposals for quicker attribution, stronger intelligence-sharing and improved protection of critical infrastructure.

Moldova occupies a particularly exposed position.

The EU has provided €317 million through the European Peace Facility for Moldovan defence modernisation, according to Kallas, including €120 million allocated in 2026 for air defence. Brussels is also supporting Moldova through its EU Partnership Mission, which provides assistance against hybrid and cyber threats.

Unlike Ukraine, Moldova is not a NATO member and has constitutional neutrality. Its ability to counter Russian missiles or drones entering its airspace is therefore closely connected to the development of its own detection and air-defence capabilities.

For the EU, repeated incidents involving Moldova, NATO airspace and European infrastructure are increasingly being considered as parts of the same security problem rather than isolated events.

Three Palestinians were killed and several others were injured on Tuesday in Israeli airstrikes and gunfire in Deir al-Balah and Gaza City, as Israeli forces continued attacks across the Gaza Strip.

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Civil Defense crews were deployed at four separate building collapses in the space of just 72 hours during the season’s first major rains last week

Israeli on Tuesday perpetrated airstrikes, artillery shelling, gunfire, and the demolition of homes and residential buildings. The attacks also targeted areas sheltering displaced Palestinians amid worsening humanitarian conditions