Your trusted source

Former Cypriot foreign minister Nikos Christodoulides was elected president on Sunday in a runoff vote, promising a unity government tasked with breaking a deadlock in peace talks with estranged Turkish Cypriots, Reuters reported.

Official results showed Christodoulides, 49, taking 51.9% of the vote, compared with runoff rival Andreas Mavroyiannis, 66, who took 48.1%.

Christodoulides ran as an independent with the backing of centrist and right-of-centre parties which typically take a hard line on solving the long-running division of Cyprus.

He broke ranks with his own party, the right-wing DISY, causing fissures in the dominant Cypriot political grouping which had backed its leader who was eliminated in the first knock-out race last weekend.

"I look you in the eyes and give you a promise - I will do everything to be worthy of your trust," Christodoulides told an indoor stadium in the capital Nicosia packed with cheering supporters and accompanied by his wife and four daughters.

Christodoulides has frequently been in the public eye in the past decade, either as government spokesman or as foreign minister until early 2022, with the persona of a young, energetic politician offering fresh ideas.

The next president faces problems ranging from a deadlock in reunification talks with Turkish Cypriots on the ethnically divided island, and labour disputes amid runaway inflation, to the fallout from corruption scandals and a spike in migration that has left authorities coping with thousands of asylum applications.

Presidential elections are held once every five years. Nicos Anastasiades, a conservative of the ruling DISY party, has been in power since 2013, having been re-elected in 2018. By law, he could not seek a third term. He was widely reported as having favoured Christodoulides, causing discontent in DISY ranks.