Filenews 8 July 2025 - by Fanis Makridis
The strategic planning of the Cyprus Police has been drawn up, covering the next three years (2026-2028).
This plan, which has already taken a written form, was sent by the Police Headquarters to all the competent officers of the police force and includes six areas/objectives.
These are the challenges that the Police are called upon to manage on a daily basis with a high degree of success in order to safeguard national and public security.
These strategic objectives, based on the separation and analysis made by a senior officer of the Police, are the following:
>> Effective road safety management.
>> Fight against terrorism and radicalisation.
>> Effective management of common crime.
>> Fight against serious and organised crime.
>> Integrated border management.
>> Efficient and effective operation of the Police.
In the long multi-page document, an X-ray/analysis of each of the six aforementioned strategic objectives is made, the actions to be taken are defined, the involvement of specific services and departments of the Police that must work for the desired result is highlighted, while there is also a distinct separation of powers, as it is determined by whom these powers are exercised.
The scene for terrorism
The analysis carried out on the fight against terrorism and radicalisation, which is one of the six strategic objectives, is indicative of the wider planning of the Police.
The relevant note adequately analyses the current situation and the data that Cyprus is called upon to handle. As "F" is able to know, the technological data (communication platforms, for example) that have helped terrorism to become a global problem are highlighted, which since 2015 has been particularly noticeable in Europe and is considered as the main threat to the Old Continent.
Although the Republic of Cyprus is not considered by experts to be a target of terrorists, however, as we are informed, the point is that there can be no complacency, due to special circumstances. These are, among others, the following:
>> Instability in the Middle East.
>> the British bases.
>> Hydrocarbon deposits.
>> The proximity to Turkey and Syria, as well as other countries in the Middle East, in which extremist organizations operate.
The analysis for this chapter includes competent services and police departments that are called upon to play their own role in preventing and/or dealing with relevant phenomena.
The strategic planning sets out four activities of the Police Force to (1) prevent the turn to terrorism, (2) protect the public and infrastructure, (3) repression and (4) deal with the consequences of terrorist acts and return to normality in a short time.
For the four activities, the actions to be taken by those involved are recorded in detail.
As we are informed, special importance, based on planning on the issue of terrorism, is given to the securing and analysis of information.
It should be noted here that in matters of terrorism, the security authorities already have a mechanism for registering foreign persons suspected of terrorism. As "F" had revealed in the autumn of 2023 (24/9/2023), a relevant list with hundreds of names is in the hands of all services of the Republic and aims to safeguard security and handle issues of foreign persons. It has been drawn up and updated at regular intervals on the basis of a mechanism that has been established in recent years and in which services/departments of the Republic participate.
In addition, in the past five years, individuals have been brought before the Courts of the Republic and are facing terrorism charges. These persons are even alleged to be linked to organizations that have extremist activity internationally.
Border management
An equally important chapter for safeguarding national security is "integrated border management", just as it is recorded in strategic planning. This issue with borders is also related to the migration issue and the role that involved Police services are called upon to play. The four activities of the Police Force, on the basis of the strategic planning, are (1) the effective management of migration flows, (2) the management of border crossing points and (3) the effective policing and security in all maritime zones of the Republic of Cyprus.
