Press Releases
The President of the Republic exercised his right to vote in the elections for the European Parliament
The President of the Republic, Mr Nicos Anastasiades, exercised today his right to vote for the European Parliament elections, at the Laniteion Lyceum polling center in Lemesos.
After casting his vote, the President, in his remarks to reporters said, inter alia, that “today, is yet another day that we celebrate democracy. A day on which we make a decision that concerns the great European Union family. A day on which we want to send a strong message as to what kind of Europe we want.
A Europe with one common foreign policy, a common monetary policy, a policy of cohesion and solidarity, and especially a Europe with common borders.
Let us not forget the importance of our participation, the importance of the security of our country.”
The President of the Republic called on everyone to exercise their right to vote stating that it is an obligation to participate in these elections.
He welcomed the fact that “with regard to these elections increasingly more Turkish Cypriots realize the importance of Europe, because when we talk about European citizens we talk about all the legal citizens of the Republic of Cyprus.”
Invited to say whether there will be less abstention from voting than what was expected, he said “I hope so. [Abstention] is not just a Cypriot issue, because I hear a lot that’s been said about Cyprus.
There are, unfortunately, countries [in the EU] with a minimum percentage of participation, and it is Europe’s obligation to make clear the importance of participation, and during my Interventions in Sibiu [at the EU informal Council] I stated how important it is for European officials to be close to the European citizens.”
(RM/ML/II)