Onasagoras
Former President of Cyprus George Vassiliou has died. Like the current president, he didn’t have a personal political party when elected. Unlike some, however, he made a serious effort to build a proper state after Spyros, who had elevated favoritism and patronage to an art form. Vassiliou laid the groundwork for a modern, European-oriented Cyprus and, importantly, never filled the presidential palace with cousins and cronies. May his memory be eternal.
Meanwhile, back in the real world, Cyprus finds itself in the middle of what can only be described as a hybrid-war-level international stir. Authorities requested assistance from the U.S., France, and Britain over a video in which two Dutch nationals, pretending to be Romanian businessmen from a profile with an English name, secretly filmed three Cypriots, posting it using a Turkish keyboard, while everyone agrees there’s clearly a Russian hand in the mix.
This isn’t your garden-variety scandal. It’s a cross-border, multi-country affair with more actors than the Second World War. Let’s just hope it doesn’t end with the classic Cypriot-style conclusion: “It all happened over a cigarette, an empty shirt, or some Emily, maybe even one Emily Thompson.”
A criminal investigator has been appointed to probe the infamous video, with a strict three-month deadline to produce findings. Gossip, which I will someday cut out of my life, suggests that the timeline isn’t arbitrary; an acquittal right before elections would be ideal. The problem is, thoughtful citizens have already drawn their conclusions. No investigator, no matter how diligent, can wash away this stain, like the wine mark on the video table, no matter how loudly Viktor shouts at Paroutis.
For President Nikos Christodoulides, the timing couldn’t be worse. His popularity had been slowly but steadily rising, and the EU Council Presidency was expected to give him a further boost. After an early period of missteps, errors, and painfully visible failures, things had begun to stabilize, and young Nikos was looking toward 2028 with optimism. But as the saying goes, when humans make plans, God laughs. The silver lining? He still has over two years to try to reverse the damage, but every step forward will be uphill, as the moral high ground of incorruptibility has been seriously eroded.
Confession time: I still don’t really understand what our police are actually doing, especially since they’ve asked half the planet for help. Are they investigating potential crimes revealed in the video or simply trying to track down the filmmakers and editors? What is the actual goal here: a genuine investigation, or just a cover-up? Perhaps the new Minister of Justice could clarify.
