The government is standing by all those affected by the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak and “together we will find the best solutions for those people and our country”, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Friday.

Commenting on livestock farmers’ calls for the outbreak to be addressed in a unified manner, including the north, Christodoulides said that “we are here to handle all issues”.

The president also said the government continues to invest in the health and education sectors.

He added that he had received a letter on Thursday from agricultural organisations and that “some actions within the outlined framework have already begun”.

“I want to clarify that, when it became a member of the EU, the whole of the Republic of Cyprus became part of the EU. Quite rightly, the implementation of the acquis communautaire has been suspended in the areas that are not under the effective control of the government of the Republic of Cyprus, namely the occupied areas,” he said.

Christodoulides added that he was “well aware of the challenges those affected have to face” and reiterated that the government stood by all of them.