Elections 2019: Cyprus chooses

Voting is running smoothly in Sunday’s European Elections. 

Turnout as of 13:00 stood at 29% with three hours left to cast a vote. Turnout at 12:00 reached 18% in line with the 2014 vote.

“This is yet another day that democracy is celebrating, a day we decide on the large family of the European Union, a day when we wan to send a strong message about the Europe we want, a Europe with a common foreign policy, a single monetary policy, a policy that will be a policy of cohesion and solidarity, and especially a Europe with common borders,” President Anastasiades said.

He noted that “we must not forget the importance of our participation, the importance of security for our country,” adding that “it was different being isolated and it is different today when we feel we belong to a family of 27 states, and not only.”
 
President Anastasiades said that it was for this reason that he called on everyone to vote. “It is our obligation to participate in these elections and that is why I welcome the fact that in this election process more and more Turkish Cypriots acknowledge the importance of Europe, because if we are speaking about European citizens, we are speaking about all legitimate citizens of the Republic of Cyprus,” he pointed out.

Cyprus needs the EU more than ever, President of the Democratic Rally (DISY) Averof Neofytou said on Sunday, and pointed out the importance of voting in today’s European Elections.
 
Speaking after casting his vote at a polling station in Nicosia, Neofytou said that “today is the time of the European Union, the moment when all of us should weigh the benefits of our participation, but also the responsibility of our abstention.”
 
“It is wrong to take the benefits for granted and believe the dangers are inexistent. Our country does not have the luxury of turning back, it does not have the luxury of being marginalized again, especially today. Our country needs Europe more than ever. The message should be loud and clear that Cyprus belongs to the countries with a clear European direction and does not belong to the countries that are fighting against Europe and European integration,” he said.

The EU “determines our lives to a great extent and it is important to give our own opinion about the course we should take in Cyprus and in Europe,” AKEL General Secretary Andros Kyprianou said on Sunday, and called on all citizens to vote in the European Elections. 

“The EU decides on about 85% of our lives and thus it is of outmost importance to express our own view on where we want to go,” he added.

Sunday’s European Elections are a good opportunity to send the message that “our future can and must be free and democratic,” President of the Democratic Party (DIKO) Nikolas Papadopoulos said, after casting his vote at a polling station in Nicosia.

''We call on voters to protect Democracy by countering extreme elements and behaviors within Europe by voting, was the message EDEK President Marinos Sizopoulos.

President of the Cyprus Green Party George Perdikis expressed hope on Sunday that the citizens would exercise their right to vote in the European Elections. Speaking after casting his vote at a polling station in Nicosia, Perdikis expressed hope they would vote, despite the fact that the political parties once again have failed to give the Cypriots the right to vote horizontally. “Nevertheless, I believe that the citizens will take the case of democracy into their own hands and participate in the election process, stating that they are present and demanding their future, their own future within a united Europe, a united Cyprus,” he added.

Decisions that affect our lives are taken at the European Parliament, President of the Citizens’ Alliance Yiorgos Lillikas said on Sunday, and called on all Cypriot citizens to exercise their right to vote in the European Elections.