Stella Kyriakides ( el, Στέλλα Κυριακίδου, ; born 10 March 1956) is a Cypriot psychologist and politician of the conservative

Democratic Rally The Democratic Rally ( el, Δημοκρατικός Συναγερμός, translit=Dimokratikós Sinagermós, ΔΗΣΥ/DISY) is a liberal-conservative, Christian-democratic political party in Cyprus led by Averof Neofytou. The party was founded ...

party who has been serving as

European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety The Commissioner for Health and Food Safety is the member of the European Commission. The current post of Commissioner is held by Stella Kyriakidou ( el, Στέλλα Κυριακίδου) from Cyprus, a psychologist and politician of the conse ...

since 2019. She was the first Cypriot national and third woman to serve as President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...

Early life and education

Born 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 ...

, Kyriakides got a degree in psychology from the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

and a master's degree in child maladjustmentSarah Wheaton (September 10, 2019)
Stella Kyriakides’ nomination puts patient advocate in top EU health post
''

Politico Europe ''Politico Europe'' (stylized as ''POLITICO Europe'') is the European edition of the German-owned news organization ''Politico'' reporting on political affairs of the European Union. Its headquarters are located in Brussels with additional offices ...

'' at the

Victoria University of Manchester The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. Afte ...

Early career

Kyriakides worked in the Ministry of Health between 1976 and 2006, as a clinical psychologist in the department of Child and Adolescent psychiatry. In 1999 Kyriakides was elected as president of the First Breast Cancer Movement in Cyprus. From 2004 until 2006, she served as president of the European Breast Cancer Coalition Europa Donna. In 2016, she was appointed President of the National Committee on Cancer Strategy of the Council.

Personal life

Kyriakides has two children. She had

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

in 1996 and 2004.

Political career

Politics of Cyprus

Standing for the conservative

, Kyriakides was elected as a deputy in the

2006 Cypriot legislative election Parliamentary elections were held in Cyprus on 21 May 2006. AKEL and the Democratic Rally both won 18 of the 56 seats. Voter turnout was 89.0%.Nohlen & Stöver, p443 Results Notes References {{Cypriot elections 2006 in Cyprus 2000s in C ...

, representing

Nicosia District Nicosia District (Greek: Eπαρχία Λευκωσίας) is one of the six districts of Cyprus. Its main town is the island country's capital city, Nicosia. The TRNC-controlled northern part of the district is the Lefkoşa District of the ...

, Since 2013, Kyriakides has served as a vice president of the Democratic Rally party, under the leadership of its president

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 ...

.Meet the commissioners
''

'', September 9, 2019 In 2018, Kyriakides pushed for a law decriminalizing

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

in Cyprus.

Council of Europe

In addition to her parliamentary duties in Cyprus, from 2012 until 2019 Kyriakides served as the chairperson of the Cyprus delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the

(PACE). From 2016 until 2018, she chaired the PACE Committee on Social Affairs, Health, and Regional Development. In October 2017, after the resignation of the Spanish member

Pedro Agramunt Pedro Agramunt Font de Mora (born 12 September 1951) is a Spanish and European politician. Agramunt is from Valencia and has served as a member of the Senate of Spain since 2008. He had previously represented Valencia Province in the Spanish Cong ...

, she ran for the presidency of the

PACE Pace or paces may refer to: Business *Pace (transit), a bus operator in the suburbs of Chicago, US * Pace Airlines, an American charter airline *Pace Foods, a maker of a popular brand of salsa sold in North America, owned by Campbell Soup Compan ...

, winning the voting in the third round against the Lithuanian

Emanuelis Zingeris Emanuelis Zingeris (born 16 July 1957 in Kaunas, Lithuania) is a Lithuanian philologist, museum director, politician, signatory of the 1990 Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania, currently serving as a Member of the Seimas (199 ...

. From 2018 until 2019, she served as the PACE representative to the

Venice Commission The Venice Commission, officially European Commission for Democracy through Law, is an advisory body of the Council of Europe, composed of independent experts in the field of constitutional law. It was created in 1990 after the fall of the Berlin ...

European Commissioner

Following the 2019 European elections,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

nominated Kyriakides to become the country's next

European Commissioner A European Commissioner is a member of the 27-member European Commission. Each member within the Commission holds a specific portfolio. The commission is led by the President of the European Commission. In simple terms they are the equivalent ...

. In early March 2020, Kyriakides was appointed by

Ursula von der Leyen Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (; Albrecht, born 8 October 1958) is a German politician who has been serving as the president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the Cabinet of Germany, German federal government between 2005 an ...

to serve on a special task force to coordinate the European Union's response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Vaccination procurement during COVID-19 pandemic

Kyriakides came under attack by the international media and the publicas her procurement of COVID-19 vaccines was said to be slow and insufficient, especially in comparison to the United States and the United Kingdom.

AstraZeneca AstraZeneca plc () is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with its headquarters at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Cambridge, England. It has a portfolio of products for major diseases in areas includin ...

's CEO, Soriot, blamed the EU for being three months slower than the U.K. in finalizing its purchase agreements for the vaccine, which AstraZeneca had developed. According to the German tabloid newspaper ''

Bild-Zeitung ''Bild'' (or ''Bild-Zeitung'', ; ) is a German tabloid newspaper published by Axel Springer SE. The paper is published from Monday to Saturday; on Sundays, its sister paper ''Bild am Sonntag'' ("''Bild on Sunday''") is published instead, which ...

'', Germany’s Health Minister

Jens Spahn Jens Georg Spahn (born 16 May 1980) is a German politician who served as Federal Minister of Health in the fourth cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2018 to 2021. A member of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he has been ...

had warned Chancellor

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Oppo ...

about Kyriakides’ slow response time. However, Kyriakides rejected all criticism and defended the EU joint procurement strategy, claiming that it had "medical and social virtues". She also rejected the logic of "first come, first served,", arguing "that may work at the neighborhood butcher’s but not in contracts." AstraZeneca hit back, stating that the contract only included 'best efforts' to supply the EU commission, whereas the UK contract included provisions to supply the entirety of the UK from the company’s British plants first, before allowing export overseas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kyriakidou, Stella 1956 births Living people Alumni of the University of Manchester Alumni of the University of Reading Cypriot European Commissioners 21st-century Cypriot women politicians 21st-century Cypriot politicians Democratic Rally politicians Members of the House of Representatives (Cyprus) Members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe People from Nicosia Women European Commissioners Women psychologists European Commissioners 2019–2024