Christos Stylianides ( el, Χρήστος Στυλιανίδης, born 26 June 1958) is a
Greek Cypriot
Greek Cypriots or Cypriot Greeks ( el, Ελληνοκύπριοι, Ellinokýprioi, tr, Kıbrıs Rumları) are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2011 census, 659,115 r ...
politician who serves as
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
's . He has previously served as the
European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management from 2014 until 2019. In 2014, he briefly served as the European Union's Ebola Coordinator. He was elected as a
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...
in the May 2014 European elections where he served until 31 October 2014.
Stylianides previously served as Government Spokesperson (2013-2014 and 1998-1999) and was member of the
Parliament of the Republic of Cyprus from 2006 to 2013. As an MEP, served as member of the Committee on Budgets and substitute Member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. He was also a member of the Delegation for relations with the US and Substitute Member of the Delegation for relations with Israel.
Early life and career
Stylianides was born and raised in
Nicosia
Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaor ...
, the son of a shopkeeper. In 1984, he received his degree as dental surgeon from
Aristotelian University in Thessaloniki, Greece. He later received executive education in International Development at the
John F. Kennedy School of Government
The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...
at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
. Postgraduate seminars in political science, international relations and European Institutions followed.
Political career
Government Spokesperson of the Republic of Cyprus, 1998-1999
Under President
Glafcos Clerides
Glafcos Ioannou Clerides ( el, Γλαύκος Ιωάννου Κληρίδης; 24 April 1919 – 15 November 2013) was a Cypriot politician and barrister who served as the fourth president of Cyprus from 1993 to 2003. At the time of his death, h ...
, Stylianides served as senior member of Government. Member of the President's delegation to EU accession talks and intercommunal negotiations for Cyprus's reunification
Resigned in 1999 in protest over a political corruption case which involved the public administration.
Member of th
Cyprus House of Representatives
2006-2013
(Elected in 2006 and 2011 wit
Democratic Rally/DISY. Vice-Chair of the Committee on Foreign and European Affairs (2011-2013). Member of the Committee on European Affairs, the Committee of Internal Affairs and the Committee of Employment and Social Affairs (2006-2011). DISY co-ordinator for the Committees of European Affairs, Internal Affairs and Employment and Social Affairs.
Between 2006 and 2013, Stylianides also served Member of th
OSCE Parliamentary Assembly(2006-2011). He was elected Member of the Bureau of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in 2012. Member of the OSCE PA Election Observation Missions. Represented Cyprus at plenary sessions and committee meetings of the Union for the Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly.
Government Spokesperson of the Republic of Cyprus, 2013-2014
In the government of
Nicos Anastasiades
Nicos Anastasiades ( el, Νίκος Αναστασιάδης ; born 27 September 1946) is a Cypriot politician who is the current president of Cyprus since 2013. He was re-elected in 2018. Previously, he was the leader of Democratic Rally betwe ...
, Stylianides served as senior political official in the Executive branch, managing the Government's communication strategy and heading the Government's centralised Press and Information Office. He participated in the proceedings of the Council of Ministers and the meetings of the National Council of Cyprus. Also, he accompanied President Nicos Anastasiades as a member of his delegation, to all EU and UN high-level meetings. He stepped down in April 2014 to run as candidate in the May European Parliament elections.
European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, 2014-2019
In October 2014, European Union leaders agreed to appoint Stylianides as the bloc's point person on the
Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa
The 2013–2016 epidemic of Ebola virus disease, centered in West Africa, Western Africa, was the most widespread List of Ebola outbreaks, outbreak of the disease in history. It caused major loss of life and Socioeconomics, socioeconomic disr ...
, as it sought to step up its response to the spread of the virus. He later impressed many lawmakers at his parliamentary hearing as nominee for the post of
European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management in the
Juncker Commission
The Juncker Commission was the European Commission in office from 1 November 2014 to 30 November 2019. Its president was Jean-Claude Juncker, who presided over 27 other commissioners (one from each of the states composing the European Union, exc ...
.
Later career
Since July 2020, Stylianides has been serving as a special advisor on education in emergencies, migration and inclusion to
Vice-President of the European Commission
A Vice-President of the European Commission is a member of the European Commission who leads the commission's work in particular focus areas in which multiple European Commissioners participate. Currently, the European Commission has a total of ...
Margaritis Schinas
Margaritis Schinas (Greek: Μαργαρίτης Σχοινάς; ; born 28 July 1962) is a Greek politician and former civil servant. He took office in December 2019 as a vice-president in the Von der Leyen Commission with the portfolio of Europea ...
. In May 2021, he was appointed as the European Commission's Special Envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the EU.
Political positions
Considered a "hardcore Europeanist", Stylianides advocated Cyprus's accession to the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
as far back as the mid-1990s, when he co-founded the Movement for Political Modernisation and Reform, despite the initial scepticism of many on the political scene.
Although Stylianides is widely regarded a liberal by inclination, his political career has always been with the centre-right Democratic Rally party, DISY, on the grounds that it takes a more conciliatory approach to reuniting Cyprus. He supported the controversial United Nations-brokered blueprint for Cyprus known as the
Annan plan, which called for an end to the island's division and for reunification of its two feuding communities in a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation – in a referendum in 2004, the plan was accepted by a majority of Turkish Cypriots but overwhelmingly rejected by Stylianides's fellow Greeks Cypriots.
Other activities
Council Memberof th
European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR)
Co-founded the Movement for Political Modernization and Reform (1995), promoting Cyprus's EU Accession and State & political reform.
Leading member of grassroots youth movements in support of EU membership and the solution of the Cyprus problem since the early 1980s.
Actively involved in the rapprochement between the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot communities through joint civil society and political initiatives.
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stylianides, Christos
1958 births
Democratic Rally MEPs
Cypriot European Commissioners
Government ministers of Greece
Living people
MEPs for Cyprus 2014–2019
European Commissioners 2014–2019