The President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides and the President of the House, Annita Demetriou, pledged on Friday to assist efforts to increase participation in the European Elections, while addressing in Nicosia the launch of the campaign of the European Parliament Office in Cyprus ahead of the June 9 elections.
President Christodoulides said that on Monday, during his State of the Union address, he will announce, among others, two actions aiming to increase youth participation in the electoral process. He expressed hope that these will be implemented during 2024, and if possible before the European elections.
“It’s a decision we’ve made, taking into account the need for young people to be more involved”, he noted, stressing that the European Parliament is the most important institution of the EU, because it’s the only institution with direct involvement of European citizens, and this, gradually, leads to the strengthening of its powers.
On her part, House President, Annita Demetriou, said that “w
e want the citizens to participate actively” and that “in this campaign you will have us by your side”, because, as she noted, the citizens must realize that nothing should be taken for granted, neither the democracy we live in, nor the EU, if we do not protect them.
She said that we need to protect our European perspective and address problems with more democracy, with more Europe, to identify gaps and weaknesses and to optimize, the presence of Cyprus at the heart of the EU.
With the slogan “Use your vote – so that others don’t decide for you”, the head of the European Parliament Office in Cyprus, Andreas Kettis, launched the institutional campaign of the Office for the European elections of June 9, 2024.
As he said, the Office’s mission is to help citizens understand that the decisions taken in the European Parliament have tangible consequences in their daily lives and that they can influence and shape this impact through active participation in the European elections.
Referring to the stakes in the up
coming European elections, Kettis said that the EU constitutes a unique model of regional cooperation, freedom and democracy and a place where political and social rights flourish. “We, the European citizens, should be proud of what has been achieved on our continent” towards political and economic integration, he noted.
Source: Cyprus News Agency