House president attends Abe funeral

House President Annita Demetriou conveyed Cyprus’ condolences to the Japanese government on Tuesday at the funeral of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Demetriou attended the state funeral at the Nippon Budokan stadium in Tokyo on behalf of President Nicos Aansatsiades. The ceremony was attended heads of state and government, speakers of parliaments and other officials from various countries.

Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida, Speaker of the House of Representatives Hosoda Hiroyuki and Speaker of the House of Councillors Hidehisa Otsuji delivered eulogies in Abe’s memory. They praised his important work as Japan’s longest serving prime minister and underlined his catalytic contribution to the prosperity and progress of the Japanese people.

Then, Demetriou attended an official ceremony at the Akasaka imperial residence.

There, she conveyed sincere condolences and expressed the solidarity of the Cypriot government and the house of representatives to Kishida, the Secretary General of the Cabinet Hirokazu Matsuno, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and the family of the deceased.