Nicos Anastasiades

Nicos Anastasiades (Greek: Νίκος Αναστασιάδης [ˈnikos anastasiˈaðis];[1][2] born 27 September 1946) is a Cypriot politician who has been President of Cyprus since 2013. He was re-elected in 2018. Previously, he was the leader of Democratic Rally between 1997 and 2013 and served as Member of Parliament from Limassol between 1981 and 2013.

For the Greek Olympic skier, see Nikos Anastasiadis (skier).

His Excellency

Nicos Anastasiades
Νίκος Αναστασιάδης
7th President of Cyprus
Assumed office
28 February 2013
Preceded byDemetris Christofias
President of the Democratic Rally
In office
8 June 1997 – 28 February 2013
Preceded byYiannakis Matsis
Succeeded byAverof Neofytou
Member of the House of Representatives from Limassol
In office
8 June 1981 – 28 February 2013
Personal details
Born (1946-09-27) 27 September 1946
Pera Pedi, British Cyprus (now Republic of Cyprus)
Political partyCentre Union (before 1976)
Democratic Rally (1976–present)
Spouse(s)
Andri Moustakoudes
(
m. 1971)
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Athens
University College London

Education

Anastasiades is a lawyer by profession, and the founder of law firm "Nicos Chr. Anastasiades & Partners".[3] He graduated in law from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and completed postgraduate studies in shipping law at University College London. During his university studies, he was a member of the Centre Coalition based in Athens formed by Georgios Papandreou.[4]

Political career

Anastasiades was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1981 and was leader of his party from 1997 until 2013.[5]

President of Cyprus
Further information: First Anastasiades government and Second Anastasiades government
Nicos Anastasiades in Dublin in March 2014

In March 2012, Nicos Anastasiades was nominated as a candidate for the 2013 presidential election, against his rival MEP Eleni Theocharous in a vote among the 1,008 strong executive of the Democratic Rally.[6] Nicos Anastasiades received 673 votes (86.73%) and Theocharous received 103 (13.27%). In the first round of the presidential election on 17 February 2013, Anastasiades won 45% of votes, while Stavros Malas and George Lillikas earned 26.9% and 24.9%, respectively.[7] He won in the second round against Malas with 57.48% of the vote and was sworn in as President on 28 February 2013.

Bank bail-out

Anastasiades had to break campaign promises by agreeing to let the banks confiscate 47.5 percent of bank accounts over 100,000 euros in 2013, in order to acquire a 10-billion euro bailout from international lenders.[8]

Speaking before a committee of inquiry into the island's economic collapse, Anastasiades conceded he reneged on his pledges not to accept a "haircut" on deposits, stressing that the alternative would have been catastrophic for Cyprus.[9]

He later came to comment that Cyprus was treated as a guinea pig with extreme measures never applied before, but despite his counter-proposals they were all blatantly rejected during the Eurogroup meeting.[10] However, such claims were heavily criticized on the press for being misleading, citing references from Eurogroup's members who stated that the bailout plan was actually Anastasiades's proposal.[9] Additional criticism was due to claims that the president himself warned his associates and friends to move money abroad before financial crisis hit.[11]

Despite the heavy criticism, the government's effective management of capital controls, however, revived the country's banking system, and Cyprus was able to exit the bailout in 2016.[12]

Military conscription
José Manuel Barroso (left) and Nicos Anastasiades (right) in January 2013 in Cyprus
Angela Merkel with Nicos Anastasiades in 2013 at the EPP summit in Limassol

During his electoral campaign for the post of Cyprus President in 2013, he announced his commitment to reduce military conscription in Cyprus to 14 months during the first hundred days of his term.[13] During the early months of the Anastasiades administration there was important planning for the reduction of military conscription to 14 months in order to increase the incentive for 18 year olds to serve their conscription and to reduce the financial burden to the Cypriot state. Minister of Defence Fotis Fotiou announced that there would be a final decision on the reduction of military conscription towards late 2013. There was increasing pressure for ending military conscription due to the 2012–13 Cypriot financial crisis.

In early August 2013, Minister of Defence Fotis Fotiou announced the reduction of military service, which was in the electoral manifesto of Anastasiades. He supported that national service will be reduced to 18 months in the first phase and decrease further to 14 months before the end of 2014. On 25 February 2016, it was decided by the cabinet to reduce the military service to 18 months for all conscripts who joined in the summer of 2015, and to reduce the service to 14 months for all those who joined thereafter.[14]

Cyprus dispute

Anastasiades supported the Annan Plan for Cyprus, even though a majority (61%) of his party voted it down. Some of his intra-party opposition even called for Anastasiades to step down.[15] Many party cadres were up in arms over Anastasiades' letter to the European Parliament alleging that the government trampled on free speech and human rights during the referendum's "Yes" campaign. The government cited the National Television Council's data that showed that the six parties supporting the "No" vote got as much air time as the two that supported the UN plan.[16] The start of peace negotiations between Nicos Anastasiades and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart began in October 2013, attracting the interest of international media and world leaders including Barack Obama.[17]

On 3 November 2019, newspapers reported that under Nicos Anastasiades' government, the Malaysian conman and fugitive, Jho Low, had been granted Cypriot citizenship.[18] It was reported that Jho Low obtained the passport under the Cypriot citizenship investment scheme just two days after investing in some property in Cyprus. At the time, there was no warrant against Jho Low for the 1MDB scandal, however he was already under investigation and investigators were closing in on him for his alleged money-laundering activities.[19] He was granted a passport despite the fact that a background check on him raised several red flags because of his status as a politically exposed person as well as his alleged fraud and regulatory breaches.[19] It was also revealed that while the golden passport scheme normally requires applicants to live in the country for at least seven years, as well as buy property, the decision to override this requirement was taken by the country’s cabinet.[20] The revelation concerning Jho Low's Cypriot citizenship came after the Cypriot citizenship investment scheme came under scrutiny, after it was revealed that the Cyprus government, under the presidency of Nicos Anastasiades, had granted citizenship to Cambodian elites.[21] As Reuters reported, eight relatives or associates of Cambodia's Prime Minister, Hun Sen, had been granted Cypriot passports.[21]

On 21 October 2019, investigative journalists reported that under Nicos Anastasiades' government, an account at the Bank of Cyprus was involved in several suspicious transactions to Hugo Chávez' daughter, María Gabriela Chávez.[22]

In August 2019, an OCCRP report linked President Anastasiades' Law firm, which he co-owned and from which he stepped away just as he was ascending to the presidency in 2013, with "business deals linked to a friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the infamous Magnitsky scandal, and a network of companies used in various financial crimes."[23] Both of President Anastasiades' daughters are still partners in the firm, and he still has a private office in the building. The report revealed that Anastasiades' Law firm "executed complex deals that moved Russian money to and from shell companies created by and associated with the firm", two of which appear to be deeply entwined with the Troika Laundromat.[23]

Personal and family life

He married Andri Moustakoudi in 1971 and they have two daughters.[4] He has a twin brother and a sister.[24] Anastasiades' family has been twice linked with visa schemes. In 2001, his twin brother, Pambos Anastasiades, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his role in a work permit scandal, which was about forging "pink visas", i.e. work permits for foreign women employed in illegal brothels.[25] In 2019, Anastasiades' family was linked to a "golden visa" programme. Anastasiades' family was accused of benefiting from Russian businessmen granted Cypriot citizenship by the cabinet.[26]

Distinctions
Nicos Anastasiades speech in Bucharest in October 2012
  • First Vice-president of the delegation of the House to the EU-Cyprus Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC).
  • Leader of the delegation of the House to the Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace (Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) since 2008).
  • Leader of the delegation of the House to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM).
  • Leader of the delegation of the House to the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (EMPA) (Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean since 2010).[27]
  • Leader of the delegation of the House to the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (EMPA) (Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean since 2010).
  • Vice-president of the Executive Committee of the Cyprus Group to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
  • Member of the delegation of the House to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean and of the delegation of the House to the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA).[27]
gollark: Even if it is the case that if everyone ever ignored politics there would be problems, that doesn't mean that one person ignoring it is bad.
gollark: Perhaps, but I don't actually care.
gollark: That's probably for the best.
gollark: It is most "based" to choose political opinions via random number generator.
gollark: JPEG bad AVIF/HEIF/JPEG-XL good, as they say.

See also

References
  1. ULUSOY, Kıvanç (2015). Doğu Akdeniz'de Güç Mücadelesi ve Kıbrıs Sorunu (in Turkish). International Strategic Research Organization (USAK). ISBN 9786054030989.
  2. "Sayarı: "Anastasiadis solun adayı Malas karşısında yarışın favorisi görülüyor"". KIBRIS POSTASI. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  3. "Anastasiades & Partners". Cyprus Law. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  4. "Index". Anastasiades. Archived from the original on 3 March 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  5. "Nicos Anastasiades". Economist Conferences, CEMEA. Archived from the original on 6 April 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  6. "Disy picks Nicos, Nicos Anastasiades, Disy, Eleni Theocharous". ISG. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  7. "Nicos Anastasiades winner of first round of elections in Cyprus". Nasdaq. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  8. "Bailed-Out Cyprus Banks Feel Good Now, Depositors Don't". The National Herald. 3 July 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  9. "Deposit haircut was Eurogroup's proposal: Anastasiades (Updated)". Cyprus Mail. 27 August 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  10. "Greek Cyprus a 'guinea pig' for EU haircut experiment: President - Latest News". Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  11. Lendman, Stephen (2 April 2013). "Scandal Hits Cyprus". Stephen Lendman. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  12. "Nicos Anastasiades | Biography & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  13. "Δέσμευση Αναστασιάδη για μείωση της στρατιωτικής θητείας μειωση, στρατιωτες, δεσμευση, θητειας". Axortagos. 23 January 2013. Archived from the original on 12 April 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  14. "Government cuts army service". Cyprus Mail. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  16. George Gilson (30 April 2004). "'No' shakes Cyprus party politics". Athens News. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  17. "Great opportunity to resolve Cyprus problem: Obama". Cyprus Mail. 9 August 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  18. Reporter, Staff (3 November 2019). "Malaysian fugitive financier holds Cyprus passport – report". Cyprus Mail. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  19. "Jho Low obtained Cypriot passport after authorities closed in - report". Malaysiakini. 3 November 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  20. "Subscribe to read". Financial Times. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  21. "Cyprus to probe how Cambodian elite obtained EU passports". Reuters. 23 October 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  22. Dalby, Chris (21 October 2019). "Money Laundering May Have Fueled Luxury US Lifestyle of Hugo Chavez's Daughter". InSight Crime. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
  23. IRPI, OCCRP and. "Bank Records Link President of Cyprus to 'Troika Laundromat'". OCCRP. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  24. "Presidency of the Republic of Cyprus - Curriculum Vitae". Archived from the original on 5 April 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  25. "Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation: News in English, 01-06-19". www.hri.org. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  26. "Russian's golden visa linked to president's family ties (updated)". Cyprus Mail. 8 February 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  27. "Anastasiades Chr. Nicos". Parliament. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
Party political offices
Preceded by
Yiannakis Matsis		 Leader of the Democratic Rally
1997–2013		 Succeeded by
Averof Neofytou
Political offices
Preceded by
Demetris Christofias		 President of Cyprus
2013–present		 Incumbent
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