The ex-diplomat, supported by the outgoing head of state and by the Orthodox Church, won with almost 52 % of the votes on the centrist Andreas Mavroyiannis.
by Marie Jégo (Nicosia Special Envoy)
Triumphant smile on his lips, shaking the hands of his supporters, the former chief of the Cypriot diplomacy Nikos Christdoulides celebrated his victory in the presidential election of Cyprus in his campaign HQ in Nicosie, Sunday, February 12. p>
With 51.92 % of the votes in his favor, the former diplomat, a 49 -year -old curator, is the second youngest president of Cyprus, after Spyros Kyprianou elected in 1077 at the age of 45. He has narrowly defeated his rival, the centrist Andreas Mavroyiannis, another experienced diplomat, former ambassador in Paris, who won 48.08 % of the vote after a rich campaign.
Thanks those who had believed in him “from the start”, he promised to meet the expectations of the voters concerned by the cost of living, illegal immigration and the partition of the island, in force since forty- nine years. He also referred to the telephone call received from President Emmanuel Macron, a guarantee of “excellent relations” established with France.
stabilized economy
“We will be able to meet the challenges only if we worked together,” said Christdoulides, promising as quickly as possible “a government trained on the basis of a large social consensus”. Charismatic, brilliant speaker, man is appreciated by the conservative political class and also of the Orthodox Church, “which matters a lot to Cyprus”, underlines the sociologist Nicos Peristianis.
Describing himself as “independent”, he has always been the foal of the outgoing president Nicos Anastasiades. Political end, he enjoys a powerful network of support in society. It inherits a stabilized economy, with a low unemployment rate, and inflation (9 % over one year) which remained in the European average, despite the pandemic and the loss of a million Russian tourists.
A shortfall consecutive to the implementation of the sanctions that the Republic of Cyprus, member of the European Union, respected, despite a strong Russian tropism. “Cyprus was the only state in the European Union having retained defense cooperation with Russia after the annexation of Crimea by Putin in 2014, explains a Western diplomat. Russian military buildings regularly stopped in the Cypriot ports.”
Limassol, nicknamed “Limassolgrad”
Everything changed after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, “the authorities then made the courageous decision to give up this agreement with Russia and no more Russian boat stops here”. As the population and politicians can individually condemn the sanctions but the community obligations have been fulfilled.
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