EU: Cyprus joins ‘gender equality’ effort with first female Commissioner

DISY deputy and women’s health activist Stella Kyriakides is set to replace Christos Stylianides as Cyprus Commissioner in Brussels, President Nicos Anastasiades announced on Friday, making her one of seven female candidates proposed for the new Commission.

According to a press announcement, President Anastasiades recommended that Kyriakides takes on Cyprus’ Commissioner role at the EU over a telephone conversation on Thursday with Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen.

Stylianides was appointed Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management in 2014. The new Commissioners will assume their duties on November 1, but will first have to appear before the European Parliament to secure approval.

Stella Kyriakides has been a DISY deputy since 2006 and deputy chairperson since 2013. She was elected President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe following the resignation of Pedro Agramunt (Spain, EPP/CD) on October 6, 2017 and remained in office until January 2018. She was the 30th President of PACE since 1949, the first Cypriot, and the third woman to take up the post.