Akel deputy Giorgos Koukoumas was under the illusion he had uncovered a major scandal when he announced on a Facebook post that the Cyprus Republic had contributed more than €3 million to the arming of Ukraine through the European Peace Facility (EPF). He said he was informed about the amount by the finance ministry, which reportedly required six months to respond to his question, the implication being that this was a big secret, that was disclosed thanks to the deputy’s persistence.

It was a reminder of Akel’s obdurate refusal to accept that Cyprus belongs to West and has ended its support for Moscow which dates back to the time of the Soviet Union and remains alive 35 years after its demise. Koukoumas suggests that the EPF is some clandestine European organisation which funds wars and that Cyprus was secretly channelling funds to it. The reality, however, is that the EPF, is an “off-budget funding mechanism for EU actions with military and defence implications under the Common Foreign and Security Policy.”

For the period 2021-2027 it has a total budget in excess of €17 billion, which puts into perspective Cyprus’ contribution. Of the €5.6m Cyprus contributed to the EPF between 2021 and 2024 €3.3m went in support of Ukraine, said the finance ministry, although it is unclear how this was spent. The tiny amount Cyprus contributed in support of Ukraine was not necessarily spent on arms the Akel deputy misleadingly claimed, though there would have been nothing wrong if it were and we were helping the country defend itself against Russia’s aggression.

Obviously Akel opposes the idea of helping Ukraine defend itself. As Koukoumas said in his Facebook post, Akel tried to stop this expenditure in the budget, but all other parties voted against its amendment. The party also took a stand against supporting Ukraine in the European Parliament said Koukoumas. Why? Is it because Akel does not want any resistance to be offered to Vladimir Putin’s invading army by Ukraine? Should Russia be given the freedom to bomb Ukraine out of existence and annex the ruins.

Koukoumas found a patriotic reason for opposing helping Ukraine. “That Zelensky eagerly wants Erdogan as a guarantor of peace does not seem to bother the local nationalists,” he wrote. Is this a convincing reason not to support Ukraine in defending its sovereignty, even with a token financial contribution? Instead of coming up with all this nonsense, Akel should have the honesty to openly declare its support for Putin’s invasion, because this is what Koukumas’ post is essentially saying.