Kyprianou: my only problem here is the smoking

FOREIGN Minister and former EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou is bothered by the amount of smoking that goes on in political circles in Cyprus, according to the Financial Times.

“Markos Kyprianou, the new Cypriot foreign minister, does not seem too happy to have swapped the salubrious corridors of Brussels, where he was Health Commissioner, for the politics back home,” the paper said.

The FT described Kyprianou as an anti-smoking zealot who once puffed three packs a day but invested huge amounts in a drive to stamp out the demon weed.

The paper said his campaign had a long way to go in Cyprus, “where nicotine runs in the veins”. Speaking during the week Kyprianou, apparently took issue with a recent description of fisticuffs at a meeting of DIKO to decide whom to back in the recent presidential elections.

“My party is very vocal and expressive [but] there was no fist-fighting. It was very civilised and I would not even call it heated. It was one of the most civilised discussions we have had.

“My only problem was the smoking there,” Kyprianou was quoted as saying.

“Kyprianou may have to spend a lot more time in smoke-filled rooms as he negotiates with Turkish Cypriots on uniting the island after 34 years of division,” the FT said. But he sees some hope: “We have the first real non-smoking president in our history. The last one smoked a lot and the previous one smoked cigars.”