With ICE arrests and detentions at their highest levels, immigration remains a key issue for voters less than two weeks before election day.

• From mass raids to quiet crackdown: a timeline of Trump’s strategic ICE pivot

Cheryl Bath, Wisconsin asks in a callout question: During covid I was surprised to learn how many foreign workers, especially from Mexico, worked in the Wisconsin farm fields. And now, I was more surprised to learn that these workers would also be deported and not allowed to work any longer at these fields even though it was all legal with paperwork. These foreign workers paid into the federal government taxes and social security system which was a plus for U.S. social security. I’ve been wondering how these Wisconsin farms are dealing with the absence of these workers seeing how it is harvesting time right now. Propublica had a article a year or so ago about the effects of this immigration sweep on the workers and the farms but that was still when the workers were still here. I can’t find any follow up or information on this anywhere. I think the farmers really feel left out to deal with this on their own and no one is asking questions. Maybe you can?

Maanvi: Cattle ranchers and dairy farmers have indeed been pushing for immigration reform, not only recently, but for years – because the industry relies so heavily on immigrant labor. In September, the the Texas Cattle Feeders Association, Kansas Livestock Association, and Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association issued a joint warning that ICE operations were threatening their industy, and would have “a massive chilling effect on the legal, documented, skilled workers that put beef on the table and keep the supply chain moving”. I recently spoke with Matt Teagarden, CEO of the Kansas Livestock Association, who said that the US cattle herd has shrunk to its lowest numbers in 75 years – and ranchers are struggling to keep up with consumer demand. Farms aren’t able to expand operations without immigrant labor – and Teagarden said that this could mean that US consumers will increasingly be eating imported beef. He also noticed that ICE crackdowns are having a systemic impact on agriculture – it’s not only dairy or cattle industry workers who are impacted, but also farmworkers who grow the feed for cows, and immigrant workers who process the dairy and meat before it gets to grocery stores. Two-thirds of farm workers are non-citizen immigrants. As the administration targets these workers, food producers could struggle to keep up operations, and prices are expected to increase steeply, according to a study by the thinktank Fwd.us.

José: Many people caught up in the Trump administration’s dragnet are workers in the US — they pay taxes and contribute to Social Security, while receiving almost none of the benefits. The process to gain asylum or remain in the US can be long and arduous — oftentimes, as undocumented people go through the process, they will receive work permits, Social Security numbers and, in certain states, driver’s licenses. Now, many people with those legal work permits have been arrested by federal immigration officials and sit in detention centers, waiting for their immigration cases to proceed.

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© Illustration: Teresa Lo/Guardian Design

© Illustration: Teresa Lo/Guardian Design

© Illustration: Teresa Lo/Guardian Design

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas is expected to visit Cyprus on October 29, barring unforeseen circumstances.

Talks are expected to cover bilateral relations, the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and developments in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The visit was first reported by the Palestinian ambassador to Cyprus, Abdallah Attari, in an interview with Phileleftheros.

The trip comes as the government faces criticism over its increasing support for Israeli interests in Cyprus.

Akel has attacked the creation of a Cyprus chapter of the Israel Allies Foundation by six MPs from Disy, Diko and Elam, which the party has said undermines the credibility of Cyprus in its efforts to press Turkey internationally on its ongoing occupation.

Cyprus and the Palestinians drew close in the 1960s and 1970s, when Archbishop Makarios steered the island away from its expected trajectory towards NATO and instead into the Non-Aligned Movement alongside Egypt and the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

In September 1985 three gunmen from the PLO unit Force 17 killed an Israeli couple, Reuven and Esther Paltsur, and their friend Avraham Avneri aboard a yacht in Larnaca marina.

President Spyros Kyprianou condemned the killings and urged both sides to keep their conflict off Cyprus.

Cyprus rejected an Israeli extradition request and tried the three men itself, and Israel bombed the PLO headquarters in Tunis days later.

In February 1988 the PLO bought the Cypriot ferry Sol Phryne at auction in Limassol, renamed it Al Awda, “the Return”, and planned to carry 135 Palestinian deportees to Haifa.

Three PLO officials were killed by a car bomb in Limassol that weekend, and a limpet mine crippled the ship within days.

Cyprus recognised the State of Palestine immediately after its declaration in 1988.

A Cypriot representative office opened in Ramallah in 2009, and after the UN General Assembly vote of 2012, was upgraded to a full embassy, among the first in the EU to do so.

When Abbas visited in June 2022, then President Nicos Anastasiades pledged that close ties with Israel “would not be to the detriment of the legitimate rights of the Palestinians”.

President Nikos Christodoulides visited Ramallah in 2023 and laid a wreath at Yasser Arafat’s tomb, and in March 2024 the first aid ship for Gaza left a Cypriot port.

Israel once declared Androulla Vassiliou, wife of former president George Vassiliou, persona non grata after a delegation she led tried to meet Arafat, who was confined to his compound in Ramallah.

Abbas, has led the Palestinian Authority since 2005, with his Fatah-dominated authority governing parts of the West Bank, while Hamas ran the Gaza strip.

Many Palestinians regard the authority as corrupt and criticise its security cooperation with Israel.

Communities have been invited to submit projects for a new €3.5 billion funding round, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Wednesday during a visit to the village of Sykopetra in Limassol.

Speaking at the opening of the Prophet Elias community park and mini football pitch, Christodoulides said the government would decide on projects across Cyprus worth that sum in the new period.

He urged the community council to put forward projects, alone or with neighbouring communities, so they could be approved next September.

He said the government had shown through its projects that rural and mountain areas were a priority.

He cited the 2024 decision to keep Kampos primary school open when it had only one pupil.

Many more children now attend, he said, because the school drew young parents to the village.

He said communities needed infrastructure, especially in Limassol, so that young couples could return, and that the aim was for villages to grow beyond 120 residents.

The community council’s contribution to development projects has been cut to 5 per cent.

Christodoulides said support for equipping the clinic at the community stadium should be taken for granted.

For community toilets, he asked the council to say how much was needed for studies, to be handled through the commissioner for mountainous communities.

A house renovation for an office and a thematic museum would be supported once plans were mature and permits secured.

He said the Palaichori to Sykopetra road widening, or a new link to Apliki, concerned the Nicosia district governor Constantinos Yiorkadjis, and promised to return to see whether work could proceed in phases.

Incumbent Mike Lawler is fending off a challenge from Democrat Cait Conley in state’s 17th congressional district

• US politics live – latest updates

Elon Musk’s Super Pac has spent more than $500,000 in New York’s highly competitive 17th congressional district race to help Mike Lawler, the Republican incumbent, hold on to his seat.

Lawler, a moderate Republican, is fending off a challenge from Democrat Cait Conley in the Hudson valley. It is among the most-watched races that could determine whether Republicans hold on to their majority in Congress.

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© Photograph: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images

© Photograph: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images

© Photograph: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images

New Mexico lawsuit claims ‘in exchange for furthering Epstein’s criminal project, his associates received generous salaries’

The attorney general of New Mexico on Wednesday filed a civil lawsuit against Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime attorney, Darren Indyke, and Epstein’s longtime accountant, Richard Kahn, accusing them of having “facilitated and concealed” Epstein’s crimes, and is seeking to stop them from being paid by Epstein’s estate while the litigation plays out.

The lawsuit, filed in the US district court for the district of New Mexico, names Kahn and Indyke as defendants both in their individual capacity, and in their capacity as co-executors of Epstein’s estate. The complaint also names Epstein’s estate, and the 1953 Trust, which holds the estate’s assets.

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© Photograph: José Luis Magaña/AP

© Photograph: José Luis Magaña/AP

© Photograph: José Luis Magaña/AP

Police deported 19 third-country nationals on Wednesday, a day after arresting them in Limassol for residing in Cyprus illegally.

Twenty individuals were arrested on Tuesday during an operation in the city, after officers found them in an apartment complex.

The immigration service carried out the removals, working with the deputy migration ministry, while procedures to deport the twentieth person are ongoing.

Akel’s central aim in the 2028 presidential election is “progressive change” delivered by a united effort of forces, secretary-general Stefanos Stefanou said on Wednesday.

Speaking in Nicosia at the presentation of the book “Studies on the History of the Left in Cyprus”, Stefanou said the change must rest on “a common progressive programme” and end in victory at the polls.

“Experience had shown that in a world dominated by the institutions, policies and power of big capital, a left-wing government faces great challenges and dilemmas”, he said.

Stefanou said Akel’s ability to shape a political agenda with broader goals was “the objective basis of collaborations”.

He recalled earlier alliances, among them the United Front of Workers and Employees of Limassol in 1943 and the National Liberation Coalition, which operated from 1948 to 1953.

He traced the party’s relationship with power to 1962, when its 10th Congress decided to give Archbishop Makarios critical support.

Akel claimed no part in government and set no conditions beyond “the defence of Cypriot independence”.

It later made agreement on a programme for governance a condition of backing any candidate, he said, as with the Minimum Programme of 1983 in support of Spyros Kyprianou and again in 1988 with Giorgos Vassiliou.

The next stage was Akel’s entry into a governing coalition, with its own cadres serving in the government of Tassos Papadopoulos.

Stefanou said the left wing “must listen to the needs of society, firmly defend workers, democracy, peace and other universal values, join forces and transform demands into collective action”.

US photojournalist describes ‘protective shield’, vows to return to work in West Bank and criticises Netanyahu comments on incident

The Washington Post photojournalist who was attacked and seriously injured by Israeli settlers in the West Bank on Friday has described how she was saved with the help of local Palestinians.

Heidi Levine sustained four fractured vertebrae, two broken ribs and four puncture wounds when she was knocked to the ground and repeatedly beaten by a crowd of masked settlers while she and other journalists were covering the olive harvest in the Palestinian village of Abu Falah, north of Ramallah.

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© Photograph: Quique Kierszenbaum/The Guardian

© Photograph: Quique Kierszenbaum/The Guardian

© Photograph: Quique Kierszenbaum/The Guardian

Parliament republished the asset declarations of MPs on its website on Wednesday afternoon, a day after withdrawing them over the accidental posting of material the law does not allow to be made public.

By 8.30pm, statements for 53 of the 56 MPs were online, those missing being Michalis Kounounis, Michalis Paraskevas and Demetris Souglis.

The House said on Tuesday that all former, newly elected and re-elected members had submitted the required statements, which its services would post gradually.

Parts of the statements that the legislation does not provide for publishing were then found to have been posted by mistake, and the declarations were temporarily taken down.

House president Annita Demetriou has ordered an investigation. She asked the services for a report of facts on exactly what happened and for strict compliance with all that the law requires. The issue is expected to go before the House institutions committee.

Alma MP Irene Charalambides wrote to Demetriou saying the House had breached its own legislation.

According to her letter, the site carried material the law expressly bars from publication, including personal data of spouses and reconciliation statements submitted to the tax commissioner.

The statements stayed online until late on Tuesday, despite Parliament’s announcement that they had been withdrawn.

Charalambides said the law was passed by the House “to serve transparency without sacrificing the rights of third parties”.

“The issue is not technical. It is a question of accountability,” she wrote, adding that “a simple apology would not close the matter”.

Disy MP George Pamboridis raised the prospect of criminal liability, saying the Attorney General’s office should prosecute if the data was found to breach the law, and called the presentation of declarations “populism” that “feeds gossip and nothing more”.

The Personal Data Protection Authority has asked for the disputed data and links to be removed from websites where they remain accessible.

It is awaiting formal notification of the breach under Article 33 of the General Data Protection Regulation, which requires this without undue delay and, where feasible, within 72 hours.

The republished statements include those of the party leaders, with Demetriou’s declared net worth being €239,550 as of 4 June 2026, with real estate worth €222,500, deposits of €133,100 and four loans totalling €144,050.

Akel secretary general Stefanos Stefanou declared €116,488, while Elam president Christos Christou declared €52,345.

Diko president Nicolas Papadopoulos declared €958,124, mostly in property received through inheritance.

Alma leader Odysseas Michaelides declared €212,783, including 22 inherited properties declared at zero value, among them property and plots now in the occupied north.

Steve Witkoff’s flattery of the Russian leader could be just the start of a mendacious stratagem from a US president who says Moscow ‘has been fine on Ukraine’

They say the first casualty of war is truth. For the Trump administration, the road to peace with Russia now encompasses some extraordinary lies.

Steve Witkoff delivered one as he sat down with Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Wednesday, aiming to close the deal on Russia’s land grab in Ukraine with the White House’s strategy of maximum pressure on Kyiv and saccharine flattery of the Kremlin.

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© Photograph: Pete Kiehart/The Guardian

© Photograph: Pete Kiehart/The Guardian

© Photograph: Pete Kiehart/The Guardian

Steve Witkoff’s flattery of the Russian leader could be just the start of a mendacious stratagem from a US president who says Moscow ‘has been fine on Ukraine’

They say the first casualty of war is truth. For the Trump administration, the road to peace with Russia now encompasses some extraordinary lies.

Steve Witkoff delivered one as he sat down with Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Wednesday, aiming to close the deal on Russia’s land grab in Ukraine with the White House’s strategy of maximum pressure on Kyiv and saccharine flattery of the Kremlin.

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© Photograph: Pete Kiehart/The Guardian

© Photograph: Pete Kiehart/The Guardian

© Photograph: Pete Kiehart/The Guardian

Officials say the explosion released an airborne irritant that can cause burning of the eyes, nose, mouth and skin

Officials are investigating a tank explosion in Toledo, Ohio, that released a chemical into the air, causing a mass evacuation in the area.

One person, a first responder, was injured and taken to the hospital, but officials believe the injuries are non-life-threatening. They are also unsure about the cause of the explosion.

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© Photograph: Jeremy Wadsworth/The Blade/AP

© Photograph: Jeremy Wadsworth/The Blade/AP

© Photograph: Jeremy Wadsworth/The Blade/AP

All 27 EU member states have backed a joint statement rejecting the Turkey-Libya maritime memorandum, which the EU said on Wednesday, “violates the sovereign rights of third States” and “does not comply with the Law of the Sea”.

The statement, issued by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, said the 2019 memorandum is “null and void and cannot produce legal consequences for third States”.

The EU said it “deeply regrets” its ratification by the Libyan parliament on 20 October.

The bloc said its position was “firm and clear” and had been set out in European Council conclusions in December 2019 and repeated in June 2025.

It said it has a strategic interest in a stable and secure Eastern Mediterranean and called on all countries to respect the sovereign rights of every member state, in line with EU law and international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Kallas added that good neighbourly relations and progress on the Cyprus settlement process were of high importance.

European Council president Antonio Costa and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen offered “solidarity” to Greece and Cyprus.

They said the agreement “does not comply with the law of the sea” and reiterated the EU’s “well-known position against any outside interference in Libya”.

The Libyan parliament voted unanimously on Tuesday to adopt the agreement.

It states that the exclusive economic zones of Libya and Turkey share a border in the Mediterranean, located south-east of the Greek island of Crete.

Turkey signed the deal in 2019 with the Libyan government of national accord, but it had not been ratified by Libya’s legislature until now.

The government of national unity replaced that administration in 2021 and is the only internationally recognised government of Libya.

Turkey’s MIT intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin was in Libya on Tuesday to meet Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah.

The Cypriot foreign ministry called the memorandum “illegal, null and void”, while Athens said, “geography and the international law of the sea do not change with unilateral, legally unfounded parliamentary decisions”.

Both countries are signatories to the UN convention on the law of the sea, though Turkey is not, and Libya signed it in 1984 but never ratified it.

Egypt said on Wednesday that it categorically rejects the ratification by the Libyan parliament of a 2019 maritime memorandum with Turkey, warning Ankara that it will not allow its sovereign rights in the Eastern Mediterranean to be questioned.

In a Foreign Ministry statement, Cairo said the memorandum is “absolutely null and void” and produces no legal effect for Egypt.

It said the deal violates the principles of the law of the sea and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which govern the delimitation of exclusive economic zones and continental shelves.

The ministry described the memorandum as a clear violation of Egypt’s sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf.

It said Egypt had opposed the agreement before and rejects any act by any party based on it.

As the memorandum contradicts Egypt’s declared maritime borders, Cairo said it “reserves its right to protect its rights” under international law and to confront any attempt to violate them.

The Libyan parliament voted unanimously on Tuesday to ratify the agreement, about seven years after it was signed by the internationally recognised Libyan government and Turkey.

Israel also condemned the vote, with its foreign ministry saying on X that the decision “violates the sovereign rights of our close allies in the region”, and that “unfortunately, once again we see Turkey acting with the aim of destabilising the Eastern Mediterranean region,” it said.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas raised the issue with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Brussels on Wednesday.

She said she told him the vote “infringes upon the sovereign rights of third states”.

European Council president Antonio Costa and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen earlier said they “deeply regret” the ratification.

They likewise said the deal “does not comply with the law of the sea” and “is null and void”.

Greece and Cyprus object to the agreement on the grounds that Turkey and Libya do not share a maritime border, since islands are each entitled to a full exclusive economic zone.

Wedgewood Polls said project was designed to highlight lack of scrutiny over polling sector by mainstream media

A polling firm has admitted to using fabricated data in surveys that were picked up by national media outlets in the US, claiming the project was a “social experiment” designed to expose the lack of scrutiny over the sector.

Wedgewood Polls released a statement on Tuesday on social media, after the polling and election analysis site FiftyPlusOne reached out for comment on an investigation it had conducted into their surveys and data.

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© Photograph: Scott Olson/Getty Images

© Photograph: Scott Olson/Getty Images

© Photograph: Scott Olson/Getty Images

Greek Cypriot negotiator Menelaos Menelaou said on Wednesday that problems over the routing of the Pyroi crossing point “have been overcome”, although a dispute over a second crossing point still stands in the way of an agreement.

Speaking to the Cyprus Mail, Menelaou said the remaining obstacle was the Turkish Cypriot demand that the Louroujina to Lympia crossing be included in any such deal.

He said the Louroujina issue remains open and has not yet been reconciled with the Greek Cypriot proposal for a crossing at Kokkina.

The earlier dispute concerned the route of the proposed road from Athienou through Pyroi to the Nicosia suburb of Aglandjia.

The Greek Cypriot side treats it as a single crossing, while the Turkish Cypriot side objected to a road running through so many kilometres of the buffer zone, arguing that it created security complications.

Menelaou told the Cyprus Mail the route now sits roughly evenly, between the government-controlled areas and the occupied north.

Pyroi is a ruined village in the north, inside a Turkish military zone, whose residents have been displaced since 1974.

Athienou lies on the government-controlled side, and a crossing would cut the drive from there to Nicosia from up to an hour to about ten minutes.

Christodoulides said on Tuesday that he had given Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman two new proposals on crossing points, one of which had already been rejected.

Erhurman separately confirmed late on Tuesday that he had rejected a proposal to open the fenced-off area of Varosha under United Nations administration and the port of Famagusta under European Union control.

He said formal negotiations could not begin until the sides agree on methodology and make progress on confidence-building measures.

New crossing points are the most concrete of those measures, as both sides agreed on a package of four after an enlarged meeting in Geneva in March 2025, when UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told each side to suggest two.

The Greek Cypriot side proposed the Athienou to Aglandjia road, with a crossing at each end, while the Turkish Cypriot side proposed Mia Milia and Louroujina.

The package has since stalled, for during Guterres’ visit in July, sources told the Cyprus Mail that the Greek Cypriot side suggested opening only two of the four, with Louroujina shelved, which the Turkish Cypriot side refused.

Staffing shortages of about 10 per cent persist in all-day schools in primary and secondary education, MPs heard at the House education committee on Wednesday.

Committee chairman and Diko MP Chrysanthos Savvides said the scheme began in 1999 with nine school units and now covers 383, with participation having risen from 7,000 pupils to 18,000.

“Something right is being done” by the education ministry, he said, but urged that the staffing gap “should be eliminated by next year”.

A new list of appointees has been created for the schools in the hope of easing the problem.

He said technical and vocational schools had shown interest but had no units available.

Akel MP Christos Christofides said the ministry should now make sure all-day schools open on the first day of term and that teachers know their postings by the end of summer.

“It is not possible for parents who planned to take their children to all-day schools to not know what to do with them for about a month,” he said.

Late hiring was pulling teachers from full-time schools and from private schools, which had reported closing classes when staff left mid-year.

Disy MP Prodromos Alampritis said steps had been taken “in the right direction”, with the optional schools now opening a week earlier.

Ninety teacher positions in optional all-day schools had still not been requested. He said teachers should be told by June where they will work in September, and proposed converting most contracts to 29 hours “so that they are more attractive to teachers”.

Elam MP Sotiris Ioannou, whose party registered the issue, said parents were entitled to “a more substantial and supportive approach” from the state.

He said a child’s right to withdraw from the programme, for tutoring or sport, should be respected, and that its optional nature should not stop the search for solutions so that children do not leave.

British Cypriot businessman John Christodoulou said on Wednesday that he believes he can find a solution to the Cyprus problem, as he considers standing in the 2028 presidential election.

Speaking to ANT1, Christodoulou said he could not accept that no decision had been reached in 52 years.

“I am a refugee, we need to go back to our homes, we must confront the Turk who stole our land. For 52 years, no one has managed to do it, I think I can.”

He said he would make a final decision on standing for election in January after speaking to his family.

“If I am ultimately a candidate and the people want me, then I will be there to help.”

Christodoulou said colleagues and friends had warned him against standing. remarking that “they tell me that my life will change and that I might ruin it”, he said.

The interview followed a statement issued on Tuesday in which he confirmed his interest in the presidency.

He said Direct Democracy leader Fidias Panayiotou was not the only individual urging him to stand, and that he would serve only “if he could make a genuine difference”.

“I am not a politician. I have never wanted to become one,” he said.

He said his aim was “a country where nobody goes hungry, nobody is left homeless, and nobody is afraid to walk home at night”.

Local media reported that Panayiotou had raised his name with party leaders, including Akel, to explore a joint candidacy, and had received no answer.

Akel secretary general Stefanos Stefanou played down speculation that his party was sounding out candidates, while Direct Democracy is also in talks with Odysseas Michaelides’ Alma party regarding a joint candidate.

Christodoulou owns Yianis Group, which holds hotels and flats in Canary Wharf and elsewhere in Britain.

The Sunday Times Rich List 2026 puts his wealth at £2.7 billion. In Cyprus he is active mainly through the Yianis Christodoulou Foundation.

In 2021 he was reported to be close to a £30 million takeover of Omonia football club, but talks with majority owner Stavros Papastavrou reportedly collapsed.

His British business affairs have drawn scrutiny, for in 2012 hotel owning companies in the group went into administration, costing him a Manchester Marriott and a Park Inn near Heathrow.

In 2022 he reportedly admitted to a tribunal that residents at 1 West India Quay had been overcharged by 26 per cent on utilities.

In March 2024 the UK government began legal action seeking £20.5 million from his companies towards fixing unsafe blocks at Canary Riverside.

Dust from Syria and Lebanon is reaching Cyprus this week, with more episodes expected in the coming days.

Met office spokesman Andreas Chrysanthou said that it was unusual to see dust this often at this time of year.

Dust is expected to blow in from the east tonight and tomorrow, though Chrysanthou said the island was under no significant burden for now and concentrations should stay low in the coming days.

The weather will stay mostly clear and warm, with highs of 28C expected in Nicosia, up from 25C earlier this week.

In Troodos temperatures should stay at around 9C, after dropping to 6C, while Limassol and Paphos will see 16C to 18C.

Chrysanthou said temperatures would stay one or two degrees above recent levels until Friday, close to normal for the time of year.

Next week is expected to look very different, with rain and storms possible from the middle of the week.

The maritime boundary agreement reached between Turkey and Libya, which was ratified by the Libyan parliament on Tuesday, “infringes on the sovereign rights of third states”, the European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday, after she met Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Brussels.

“I had an extensive discussion with my colleague Hakan Fidan on a range of issues. Good neighbourly relations and advancing the Cyprus settlement process are of high importance. I raised yesterday’s Libyan vote … and stressed that it infringes upon the sovereign rights of third states,” she said after the meeting.

Away from the matter of the eastern Mediterranean, she said that she had also spoken to Fidan about “Russia’s dangerous Black Sea escalation”, which has seen commercial vessels be targeted by missile fire, and that she had “emphasised the need to step up the pressure on Moscow to end the war”.

“The EU and Turkey both support a Black Sea freedom of navigation arrangement,” she said.

She said that she and Fidan had also “addressed developments in the south Caucasus and across the Middle East”, and on this front said that “Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and Yemen are textbook terror tactics and must end”, and that “in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran is making shipping dangerous and expenses”.

“Freedom of navigation must be restored without tolls or fees,” she added.

Fidan made no statement after the meeting.

Greece, Cyprus believe islands are entitled to full EEZ

The maritime agreement was unanimously passed by Libya’s parliament on Tuesday, some seven years after it had initially been signed by the internationally recognised Libyan government and Turkey in 2019.

However, Greece and the Republic of Cyprus object to the deal, saying that Turkey and Libya do not share a maritime border because islands are each entitled to a full exclusive economic zone, and that therefore, the sea in question belongs to Cyprus and Crete. Turkey’s position is that islands are not entitled to a full EEZ.

Wednesday’s meeting came after European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had said that they “deeply regret” the Libyan parliament’s ratification of the deal, which, they said, “infringes upon the sovereign rights of third states”, “does not comply with the law of the sea”, and “is null and void”.

“We reaffirm our solidarity with Greece and Cyprus. We reiterate the EU’s well-known position against any outside interference in Libya,” they said.

On the other side of the argument, Turkey’s presidential press office director Burhanettin Duran described Tuesday’s vote as “an important advancement towards protecting the shared rights and interests of both nations in the eastern Mediterranean, establishing maritime jurisdiction areas on the basis of equity, and strengthening regional cooperation”.

“Under the leadership of our President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey will continue to safeguard its rights and interests within the Blue Homeland, while further developing its relations with friendly and brotherly Libya and promoting equitable resource sharing, peace, and stability in the eastern Mediterranean”.