Averof Neofytou, the former leader of the Democratic Rally (DISY), has called on President Nikos Christodoulides to push at the next EU summit for a review and lifting of the EU’s energy sanctions against Russia. His own party immediately distanced itself from him: DISY said it supports the common EU policy and the position of the European People’s Party, and described Neofytou’s proposal as «personal».
Neofytou made the call on Friday at a press conference where he effectively announced his intention to run for president. According to the Cypriot press, he plans to submit his candidacy on October 26. He declined to say how he would proceed within DISY’s internal procedures, promising a statement next week. Asked about the criticism, he said he was responsible for what he said, not for how it was interpreted.
«The Democratic Rally supports the positions of the European People’s Party and the common policy of the EU of 27 on energy sanctions against Russia, always in full coordination with Greece,» the party said in a statement. It stressed that on major international issues Cyprus must stand with its European partners.
The sharpest response came from former DISY parliamentary spokesman Nikos Tornaritis. He said Neofytou’s proposal calls into question Cyprus’s European orientation, its credibility and its national goals. «The foreign policy of a small state cannot afford the luxury of contradictions,» Tornaritis said. He recalled that Cyprus still lives with the consequences of the Turkish invasion and occupation, and that its diplomacy rests on international law, sovereignty, territorial integrity and European solidarity.
Tornaritis is right. For half a century Cyprus has been asking the world not to recognise the seizure of its territory and to punish the aggressor. Proposing to lift sanctions on another aggressor, one that has been destroying Ukraine for the fifth year and killed 328 Ukrainian civilians in September alone, undermines Cyprus’s own position on the Cyprus problem. Every euro Moscow earns from energy sales turns into missiles and bombs used to destroy Ukrainian cities and kill civilians in Ukraine. Nor should anyone forget that Russia is also waging a hybrid war against Europe.
Neofytou dresses up his initiative as concern for Cypriots’ wallets. At the same press conference he spoke about rising prices, about pensioners and the middle class struggling to make ends meet, about families who will have nothing to pay for heating this winter. But high energy prices are a consequence of the war the Kremlin unleashed. Lifting sanctions will make Putin richer, not Cypriot families.
It looks as though Neofytou’s old ties with Russia are making themselves felt. He has never been a consistent opponent of the Kremlin. In February 2022, in the first days of the full-scale invasion, Neofytou, then still DISY leader, avoided even mentioning Russia in connection with the violation of international law. He said Cyprus would join the EU decision, but immediately added that «we must study in depth how our country will be affected at the economic and political level».
Another question arises. Neofytou lost the 2023 presidential election, stepped down as party leader and is now trying to return to big politics. Why was the first loud statement of this comeback a call to lift sanctions on Russia? Is he counting on help from his friends in the Kremlin in the election? Moscow has long and openly interfered in elections in Europe, and a Cypriot politician ready to lobby for its interests in Brussels becomes a valuable asset for the Kremlin.