The Government of the Republic of Cyprus and the Government of the United States of America, recognizing the importance of the prevention and combat of serious crime and particularly terrorism, have negotiated an Agreement on Enhancing Cooperation in Preventing and Combating Serious Crime, which was signed on the 1st of December, 2015, by the Minister of Justice and Public Order, Mr Ionas Nicolaou and the Ambassador of the United States of America, Mrs Kathleen Ann Doherty.
The purpose of the Agreement is to enhance the cooperation between the Parties in preventing, detecting, combating and investigating serious crime, punishable by a deprivation of liberty of more than one year or by a more serious penalty, and especially for terrorism, through the exchange of information on suspects having committed or who are about to commit such crimes.
In a period when terrorist acts have risen, the strengthening of the cooperation between the Republic of Cyprus and the USA, at a political and operational level, is considered to be particularly useful and beneficial, as far as tracking suspects and preventing and investigating serious crimes and especially terrorist acts, is concerned.
The signing of this Agreement is one of the prerequisites for Cyprus to enter the USA Visa Waiver Programme. The USA Visa Waiver Programme allows citizens from states who have entered it to travel to the USA for tourism or for any business reasons up to 90 days, without inspection required. Cyprus has expressed its willingness to enter this programme and that is the reason why it has moved on to issuing biometric passports.