Nicos Christodoulides was elected president of Cyprus on Sunday, securing his bid to oversee the Mediterranean island whose economy was buffeted first by the pandemic and now by Russia’s war in Ukraine and its associated rise in living costs.
Christodoulides, 49, stood as an independent candidate and won 51.9% of the vote in the runoff, compared with 48.1% for Andreas Mavroyiannis, 66, a career diplomat who also ran as an independent, with all votes counted, according to Cypriot Interior Ministry figures. A first-round vote on Feb. 5 failed to deliver a victory to any candidate.
“I will engage with political parties to appoint a council of ministers with a broad consensus,” Christodoulides said following his win. “My main objective is Cypriot reunification as soon as possible.”
The newly elected president said he had already spoken with French President Emmanuel Macron and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and that he told them that “Cypriot foreign policy will continue on the same line.”
Christodoulides served as government spokesman and foreign minister in the first and second administrations of outgoing President Nicos Anastasiades, who was ineligible to stand again after completing two five-year terms in office.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey occupied the northern third of the island following a coup by supporters of the country’s union with Greece.
A longtime member of Anastasiades’ center-right Disy party, Christodoulides was ejected from the group after deciding to stand as an independent against Averof Neofytou, Disy’s official candidate. Between the two election rounds, Disy said it would support neither presidential candidate nor the winner’s government.
In addition to overcoming economic challenges, the new president will also need to re-engage with breakaway Turkish Cypriots to resolve the division of the European Union member, while at the same time making best use of Cyprus’s natural gas deposits amid a reshaping of the global energy landscape. The new leader must also confront voter concerns over perceived corruption in political circles.
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(With assistance from Sotiris Nikas.)
