AS FAR as woefully pathetic excuses go, the one given by the comrades of Akel for not attending President Zelenskiy’s address of the special session of parliament on Thursday deserved full marks. It was in the same class as some of those Prez Nik has come up with over the years, only those that those with a single digit IQ believe.
The democratic sensitivities of the comrades had been mortally wounded by the appearance by video link of a fighter of the Azov Battalion during Zelenskiy’s address to the Greek parliament earlier in the day. The development was “a provocation to any democratic person,” said the party that blindly supported Stalin, Ceausescu, Honecker and other renowned democrats during its long history.
The Azov Battalion is run by fascists, which makes them ineligible to fight to defend their country against invasion by the democratic Russian forces in the minds of the principled commies who explained that “the decision to display neo-fascists during Zelenskiy’s address prevents us from attending.”
This happened in Greece so why was Akel bothered? Because most Akelites love Russia and Vladimir Putin, as much for his democratic rule as for his standing up to the evil West, the hatred of which is in the commies’ DNA.
Their statement of revulsion at the appearance of the Azov fighter said it all. “We wholly support the Ukrainian people, but not the neo-fascist groups who have a large share of responsibility for Ukraine’s tragedy,” the party. How the neo-fascist groups were responsible for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine they did not explain.
THE SPECIAL parliamentary session did not go very well. Zelenskiy, who is nowhere near as popular in Kyproulla as Vladimir Putin, provided ammunition to his critics, by failing to mention anything about the Turkish invasion and occupation during his address.
He also pissed off a section of the population by arrogantly telling our government to revoke the Cyprus passports of Russians (he did not mention those given to Ukrainians) and to close ports to Russian ships. Our golden passport reputation has become global.
The star of the show, however, was Prez Nik, who sat next to the House President Anita Demetriou looking bored out of his mind. He had the ‘this is the last place on earth I want to be this afternoon,’ look, unwilling to employ his unrivalled thespian skills and pretend he was slightly interested.
“WE WERE vindicated,” said Akel deputy Aristos Damianou the next day, when he was asked about the party’s boycott decision on a radio show. No Azov Batallion fighter made an appearance on the video link, but Zelenskiy failed to mention the Turkish occupation, a vindication for the commies.
In 47 years, no Russian or Soviet government ever mentioned the Turkish invasion and occupation of Cyprus by name either, let alone condemning it, but we excuse this because of the traditional, principled stand they have always taken on the Cyprob.
During the radio show, Damianou also revealed that the comrades were very concerned as to how Russia would treat Kyproulla after the war, and what repercussions this would have for the Cyprob. Was he seriously suggesting Russia would abandon its principled stand as punishment for our disloyal behaviour?
THE WAY Akel’s mouthpiece Haravghi has been covering the war in Ukraine, you’d think it was owned by the Russian state. From Monday to Friday, the war did not get a mention on its front page.
There was a picture of a tank on Tuesday’s front page but it was part of a report about the request for the Anastasiades government to send the National Guard’s Russian weaponry to Ukraine. The atrocities in Bucha got a mention on page 12.
The killing and suffering of people in the Ukraine and merciless bombardment of towns are not newsworthy or interesting enough to be given coverage on Haravghi’s front page. Its readers do not need to know how Putin’s special operation to rid Ukraine of fascists/Nazis and restore democracy is going.
DISAPPOINTED not to see any Akel deputy showing solidarity by participating in the latest ‘Give War a Chance’ event organised on Saturday by Russians living in Kyproulla. A procession of cars with Russian flags started in Larnaca and ended up at a meeting place in Limassol from where more cars joined in a procession through Limassol.
Heavy police presence, it was reported, ensured there were no incidents as flag-bearing Ukrainians had gathered at the Limassol meeting point in a counter-demonstration and tried to remove Russian symbols from cars.
In speeches of support for the Russian Federation, the organisers said that everything happening in Ukraine was aimed at the removal of the Neo-Nazis. They also accused Western media of lying about what was actually happening, because their sources of information – the Russian state media – are always accurate, balanced and objective.
Putin would not tolerate anything less.
PREZ NIK was not a happy bunny after his meeting with US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland on Thursday because instead of congratulating him about his proposed confidence-building measures, she raised the idea of a possible energy cooperation with Turkey.
Speaking to hacks after the meeting, she also pooh-poohed the idea of the EastMed pipeline, which she said would take 10 years to complete and was economically unviable anyway. No doubt she conveyed this view in the meeting with Nik as well the idea that the Turkish Cypriots should benefit from regional energy cooperation, which she told to hacks.
“We are focused now on energy interconnectors, we are focused on projects that can deliver now for Cyprus, both in the south and in the north, for Europe, for the countries of this neighbourhood.”
The following day, asked about Nuland’s comments on the EastMed, a stroppy Nik said that it was none of her business. “The US does not decide about European projects,” he snapped.
I WAS very surprised that no journalist picked up Nuland’s downgrading of the Republic, twice referring to it as the ‘south,’ and putting it on an equal basis with the pseudo-state which she referred to as the ‘north’.
Apart from the above-mentioned reference she also spoke about “things that can improve the economy on both the north and south of the island.”
Perhaps the journos she was talking to were all in shock after she spoke the unspeakable referring to meeting ‘President’ Tatar. They corrected her immediately and she then called him ‘Mr’, but there was speculation whether this was a slip of the tongue or a sinister American attempt to upgrade the pseudo-president and piss off Greek Cypriots.
Ersin Tatar wet his pants about his momentary elevation to ‘president’ by a US official, and was certain it was not a slip of the tongue. He told TRT television that “Nuland’s reference to president Tatar showed that at international centres and some parts of diplomacy the reality of TRNC is becoming more accepted.”
The guy is such a sad loser you almost feel sorry for him.
THE REPORTER website carried a glowing report about the governor of the Central Bank Constantinos Herodotou for his handling of the RCB closure and for taking the initiative to invite the ECB president Christine Lagarde. It concluded its mock-hagiogrpahy thus:
“In conclusion, everything that happened in the previous month, rightly created the impression that, possibly, for the first time the Central Bank has a Governor, who not only has stature and enjoys confidence in Frankfurt, but can also handle difficult situations with success.”
The writer failed to mention that the website, which carried this flattering report, is owned by the company that was awarded the organising of the conference, at which Lagarde was the main guest, by the Central Bank governor.
I AM STARTING to believe that the government is keeping the Covid restrictions in place not for public health reasons but because it likes to keep us under control with illiberal decrees and pedantic rules and regulations.
And it has willing accomplices in the members of the scientific team, who support keeping the restrictions so they can carry on enjoying their high public profile. An end to project fear that they keep alive in order to justify the restrictions would mean their return to obscurity. Society would no longer need to hear their views about wearing facemasks.
The worst of all is that they expect us to be grateful to them because they have generously proposed a few relaxations. Ditto the government, which no longer can claim it is following other European states. Most European states have lifted all restrictions.
Challenged about this, health minister, Michalis Hadjipantelas, said that in China they still had restrictions. Who can argue with that?
