Task force 2012 chief named

CABINET Secretary, Andreas Moleskis, was yesterday appointed head of the task force which will oversee the country’s preparations for taking over the EU Presidency in the second half of 2012.

Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou announced the decision yesterday, noting that Moleskis would resign from the civil service to take over the EU Presidency 2012 team.

The government had decided on August 27, 2008, to set up such a team, which would come under the direct control of President Demetris Christofias.

Moleskis will now be tasked, in cooperation with the relevant ministries and services, with the job of picking the team that will take Cyprus to the helm of the EU in July 2012.

Diplomatic sources had earlier told the Cyprus Mail that the position would have to be filled by someone who knew what the EU Presidency entailed but at the same time had the ear of Christofias. In preparing Cyprus for the gargantuan task of leading the 27-member union, the chosen coordinator would have to be able to twist the arm of less-responsive ministry officials when necessary, said the diplomat.

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.