Demetriou remembers earthquake victims, Ukrainians during swearing in ceremony

House President Annita Demetriou on Tuesday wished new President Nikos Christodoulides “strength and endurance” in the island’s top post during a ceremony at parliament.

Demetriou said the House remains willing and ready for positive cooperation with the executive body to achieve objectives beneficial to citizens.

She added that parliamentary diplomacy will be in constant and fruitful cooperation with the relevant mechanisms of government but “always bearing in mind that the separation of powers between the executive and the legislature is a fundamental concept and an essential component of any democratic, liberal, European, modern state governed by the rule of law.”

At the beginning of the swearing-in ceremony, a one-minute silence was observed for the victims of the deadly earthquakes in Turkey and Syria and the war in Ukraine.

Demetriou lamented the loss of 49 Turkish Cypriots who died in the quake, saying “I express our deep sorrow for the loss of our compatriots, and I extend our sincere condolences to all members of the Turkish Cypriot community.”

On the war in Ukraine, she said it “revived grim images reminiscent of the Second World War” and reiterated Cyprus’ unwavering solidarity with the Ukrainian people, by saying that “Cyprus, itself a victim of occupation, condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine from the very beginning.”