Twenty-six people thought to be Lebanese and Syrian were winched to safety by helicopters off Cyprus in an overnight operation when their sailboat began to sink in rough seas, authorities said. Media reports suggested they were attempting to reach Greece, the primary gateway to the European Union for close to 600,000 migrants and refugees fleeing war this year. Cyprus is the closest EU member state to the Middle East, but has seen none of the mass influx of arrivals of its EU border counterparts, with most arriving on the island by accident.
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