Onasagoras
After the meeting with Biden, which, let’s be honest, wasn’t exactly a home run, we were treated to what’s being billed as another major political development, or shall we say, a “success” by the government: the visit to Cyprus of the prime minister of the world’s most populous country (which, in case you missed it, has just surpassed China), India. Congratulations to the president.
However, this supposedly momentous visit was completely overshadowed by a diplomatic blunder of truly epic proportions—yes, we’re talking about the infamous "message" that we were either asked—or not exactly asked—to relay from Iran to Israel.
To put it simply, no matter what the real story is, we’ve found ourselves in the middle of a diplomatic disaster of colossal scale.
Now, if it turns out that no such request was ever made and we just made the whole thing up, that’s pretty awful and an embarrassment on the international stage. But if the request was actually made and, instead of handling it diplomatically and discreetly, we ran to announce it like giddy schoolchildren just to look important at home...then it’s even worse.
To put it simply, no matter what the real story is, we’ve found ourselves in the middle of a diplomatic disaster of colossal scale.
On social media, the government’s loyal troll army pulled some serious overtime trying to contain the fallout, only to make things worse in many cases with their overzealous spin. The president, rather than offering a straight answer, told us that “in times of war, the first casualty is truth.” (And if you ask me, in times of elections, the first casualty is also truth.)
He then added, rather wistfully, that some people even blame him for the weather and the dust in Cyprus. Touching, really. And to be fair, while he may have made some catastrophic blunders, I don’t believe he’s personally responsible for importing the Sahara.
Moving on, both Christodoulides and Modi made statements about strengthening cooperation between Cyprus and India. Rumors that the Indian Prime Minister asked our President to step in and stop the assaults on Indian delivery drivers remain unverified.
In any case, let’s not forget: Minister Hartsiotis has already cracked the case. Never, ever, are our own people involved in these attacks, not with racist motives, anyway. According to him, it’s always the fellow countrymen of the victims, allegedly part of a local branch of the Indian mafia.
And they all lived happily ever after... except us.
*This article was translated from its Greek original
