By Athena Karsera
GREEK Deputy Foreign Minister Yiannos Kranidiotis, tragically killed when the plane in which he was travelling to Bucharest fell thousands of feet just before midnight on Tuesday, was born in Nicosia on September 25, 1947. He would have been 52 next Saturday.
His parents were both Cypriot and the family retained a home on the island even though they moved to Greece where his father Nicos Kranidiotis served as Cyprus’ ambassador to Athens.
His father died two years ago while his mother, Chryso, was in Cyprus at the time of Tuesday’s accident.
Yiannos Kranidiotis is survived by his ex-wife, Greek Katerina Boura. Their only child Nicholas was one of the five other people killed on board the plane. He was 23.
Kranidiotis studied law at Athens University before taking a masters degree in International Law and International Relations at Sussex and Harvard Universities. He also obtained a PhD in International Relations at Thrace’s Dimokrateio University.
He spoke fluent English and French as well as his native Greek.
Playing an active role in university political life, he was made vice- president of the Cypriot student Movement and continued this involvement while studying overseas.
He then became one of the founding members of the Cypriot socialist party Edek, before returning to Greece in 1976 and joining socialist party Pasok.
In 1981, he was appointed to the office of special advisor to the Foreign Minister and advisor to the Greek prime minister Andreas Papandreou on the Cyprus problem.
In 1984, he became special secretary to the Foreign Minister on EU issues, a post he held until 1989, when Pasok went into opposition. From 1988 to 1990 was also head of the Greek Centre For European Studies.
A dual national of Cyprus and Greece, Kranidiotis acted as advisor to the Cypriot government on EU issues between 1991 and 1992, making a significant contribution to the island’s EU accession progress.
When Pasok returned to power in 1993, Kranidiotis became secretary-general of European issues at the Greek Foreign Ministry and in 1994 he was appointed vice-Foreign Minister on European affairs.
The following year, he was elected to the European parliament where he served until January 1997, resigning his seat to become vice-Foreign Minister.
On February 18 this year Kranidiotis was promoted to the number two position in Greece’s Foreign Ministry, concentrating on European and Cypriot Affairs. He replaced George Papandreou who became Foreign Minister following the resignation of Theodoros Pangalos over the Ocalan affair.
Like his father, Yiannos Kranidiotis also wrote extensively on international relations and foreign policy.
His publications include The Cyprus Problem 1960-1974, Cyprus, History of the Struggle and Problems of its People, The Second Greek Presidentship, and, Proposals for a European Policy.
Kranidiotis was seen as a rising star in Greece and was well respected as one of the few Greek Cypriots who rose to the top in Greek politics.
He was also tipped as a possible future president of Cyprus, and it was rumoured last February that he might have stood as a compromise candidate in the elections which eventually saw the re-election of Glafcos Clerides.
