By a Staff Reporter
THE HONORARY President of Greece’s right-wing Nea Dimocratia, Constantinos Mitsotakis, yesterday blasted President Tassos Papadopoulos for being “the first Cypriot President to meddle with Greek domestic politics.”
Mitsotakis was commenting on the President’s participation at a Socialist Party (PASOK) meeting in Athens on Tuesday.
Speaking to Greek television channel NET yesterday, Mitsotakis described Papadopoulos’ participation as clumsy and wrong meddling in domestic politics.
“Mr Papadopoulos made a mistake,” Mitsotakis said.
“He was the first President of the Republic of Cyprus to meddle in Greece’s domestic politics and he did it in a clumsy manner.
By his presence as President of the Republic at the PASOK meeting endorsed one-sided presentation of Greece’s problems by (Greek Prime Minister) Costas Simitis.
“It was an error that could be put down to inexperience,” Mitsotakis added. “We are not making a big deal out of it.
“We are hopeful of a substantial handling of the Cyprus problem and that he does not repeat such mistakes. He should be more careful.”
The government yesterday refused to comment on Mitsotakis’ verbal attack on the President. Speaking from St Petersburg, Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides said Papadopoulos would not comment.
“The President will not comment further than what he said at the PASOK meeting,” Chrysostomides said.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
