The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki is “in the final stretch” of coming to a decision over whether it will open a campus in Paphos, according to reports on Monday.

News website Pafosnet reported that the university’s decision-making body will finalise its decision regarding the potential opening of a campus “in the very early part of 2026”, with a committee formed to look into the matter having made “great progress in studying the information”.

It added that the university’s electorate has been “in consultation for months” with the Paphos municipality regarding the potential opening of a campus.

Legislation to allow foreign universities to open campuses in Cyprus was passed into law last year, with universities from Greece and further afield now reportedly considering opening campuses around the island. 

The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens was the first to formalise those plans, announcing the opening of a medical school, with Education Minister Athena Michaelidou saying in October that the university received over 300 applications for 60 places at its Cyprus campus. 

Paphos mayor Phedonas Phedonos, meanwhile, has made no secret of his wish to attract more students to his town, having previously said that he intends to make Paphos a “regional university centre”, and having already attracted Limassol’s Cyprus University of Technology (Tepak) and the American University of Beirut to open campuses island’s west coast.

He said that the opening of the American University of Beirut’s campus in the town had been “one of the most important projects” Paphos has undertaken in its history, adding that the campus would aid in the “transformation of Paphos into a regional centre of high prestige”.

“The town of Paphos today acquires one of the most important projects of its historical journey, which, without exaggeration, can be ranked among the 15 most important projects this town has undertaken in its 2,300 years of history,” he said.

“It will cause some of the best minds from neighbouring countries to come to our town and be educated, and I am sure that some will stay as permanent residents, adding value to our town.”