Former Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulidis has won the presidential election in the small EU island republic of Cyprus. The 49-year-old conservative politician received 51.9 percent of the vote in Sunday’s second round, the official results show. The diplomat Andreas Mavrogiannis (66), supported by the Left Party AKEL, got 48.1 percent and admitted defeat.
“I congratulated Nikos (Christodoulidis),” Mavrogiannis said on state television. Christodoulidis was supported as an independent candidate by centrist and centre-right parties. Incumbent President Nikos Anastasiades was no longer allowed to stand.
Schallenberg congratulated
Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) congratulated his “dear friend and former colleague” Christodoulidis on his election on Sunday evening. “You have worked tirelessly as foreign minister for your people and I am confident you will continue to do so as president,” Schallenberg wrote on Twitter.
Elections only in the south of the island
Only the southern part of the island voted, the Turkish Cypriot north did not participate in the vote. Cyprus has been divided since 1974 after a Greek coup and Turkish military intervention. To the north is the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC), which is only recognized by Turkey.
One of the challenges facing the future president of the EU member state is to resume talks on the political reunification of the two parts of the island. Numerous mediations by the United Nations to overcome the division have failed. Cyprus has been a member of the EU since 2004. EU laws and regulations only apply in the Greek Cypriot south. The president, directly elected by the people, appoints and administers the government in Cyprus.
Source: Krone
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