Nikos Christodoulides

Nikos Christodoulides (born 6 December 1973) is a Cypriot politician, who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2018 to 2022 and Spokesperson of the Government from 2014 to 2018. Prior to entering politics, he was an academic and career diplomat.

Christodoulides resigned from the second Anastasiades government in January 2022 amidst speculation that he would run for President in 2023 without the blessing of his DISY party. In June, he confirmed that he would run for President as an independent and has since been endorsed by the smaller DIKO and EDEK parties.

Early life

Christodoulides was born in Geroskipou, Paphos, on December 6, 1973. His father was from the village of Choulou, in mountainous Pafos, whereas his mother was from Geroskipou. He graduated from Archbishop Makarios Lyceum in Paphos in 1991 and pursued a career in Political Science.

Career

Education

He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science, economics, Byzantine and Modern Greek studies from Queens College, City University of New York, a master's degree in political science from New York University and another in diplomatic studies from the University of Malta at the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies, and, finally, a doctorate from the Department of Political Science and Public Administration of the University of Athens.

Diplomat

He began as a career diplomat in 1999 and served as one until 2013, During this period he served as director of the Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus, spokesperson of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European Union in Brussels, deputy chief of mission at the Embassy of Cyprus in Greece, director of the Office of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and consul general at the High Commission of the Republic of Cyprus in the United Kingdom. His wife is also a Cypriot diplomat, Philippa Karsera, and they met in 1999 as newly appointed diplomatic attaches in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
She is currently deputy head director of the President's Diplomatic Office at the Presidential Palace.

University and government appointments

Furthermore, between the years 2007 and 2010, Christodoulides lectured and served as a research associate at the Department of History and Archeology of the University of Cyprus. Specifically, he taught the subject of "History of the Postwar World". Finally, prior to his appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs on 1 March 2018, he served as director of the Diplomatic Office of the President of the Republic of Cyprus between 2013 and 2018, and Government Spokesman between 2014 and 2018.

Minister of Foreign Affairs

Upon re-election in February 2018, the president of the Republic of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades, appointed Christodoulides as head of the foreign ministry, among several new appointments to his cabinet. He assumed office on 1 March 2018.

Foreign minister Christodoulides visited Israel in June 2018 and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin to discuss regional developments and the strengthening of bilateral ties in energy and emergency situations. Apart from Turkish incursions, they talked about strategic cooperation on the planned EastMed pipeline.

Regarding recent provocations by Turkey in disrespect of the Exclusive Economic Zone claimed by the Republic of Cyprus, Christodoulides noted that Nicosia will not be swayed by Turkey's actions. During a meeting on Greek-Cypriot cooperation with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, he said that the "number one goal is the reunification of the country."

In May 2018, Christodoulides officially asked the United Nations to prepare for a speedy re-opening of the re-unification process. After meeting Greek foreign minister Nikos Kotzias on 7 May 2018, he praised General Secretary António Guterres for having dispatched a special representative to sound out the atmosphere for reopening talks.

Christodoulides welcomed an announcement by Exxon representatives in June 2018 to speed up their schedule to begin drilling operations in ''Block 10'' of the Exclusive Economic Zone. Operations are now planned to begin in the fourth quarter of 2018.

On 17 July 2018 Christodoulides met High Representative Federica Mogherini in Brussels. They talked about "the crucial role the EU can play in efforts to resume the stalled Cyprus peace talks". During his visit, Christodoulides stated that Cyprus does "not have the luxury of a new talks’ failure." But he also insisted that "Turkey has to comply with European standards and international law."

In July 2020, reacting to the Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes, Christodoulides condemned the "ceasefire violation by Azerbaijan" and called for "restraint of the parties to de-escalate the tension in the region".

On April 5, 2021, Christodoulides was awarded the Order of Serbian Flag by the president of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić.

Resignation as Minister and presidential campaign

After months of speculation whether he will be a candidate in the 2023 Cypriot presidential election, Christodoulides expressed his interest at a press conference held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on January 9. The next day, he resigned as Minister, and was replaced by veteran politician Ioannis Kasoulides on January 11.

In June 2022, he formally announced his candidacy as an independent candidate, despite being a member of the DISY. He was endorsed by DIKO, and EDEK, the island's third and fourth largest party, respectively.

As of July 2022, opinion polling suggests he maintains a comfortable lead over other candidates.

Publications

Among contributions to many domestic and international journals, Christodoulides is also the author of two books. In 2009, he published ''Plans for Solution of the Cyprus Problem 1948-1978'', and in 2013, he published ''Relations between Athens and Nicosia and the Cyprus Problem, 1977-1988''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christodoulides, Nikos
1973 births
Living people
Cypriot diplomats
Cypriot politicians
Cyprus Ministers of Foreign Affairs
People from Paphos District
Queens College, City University of New York alumni
New York University alumni
University of Malta alumni
Greek Cypriot people
University of Cyprus alumni