UK: Cypriots urged to reject Brexit in EU referendum

Cyprus Future, a civic non-party political campaign run by UK Cypriots, has urged Cypriots in Britain to vote against Brexit in the EU membership referendum on June 23.

 
Cypriot people living in the UK are entitled to vote in this referendum as Commonwealth citizens.
Cyprus Future is asking everybody in Cyprus to touch base with their compatriots in the UK – whether it’s a friend, relative or business colleague – and ask them to register to vote at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote before June 7 and then use that vote on June 23 to ensure the UK remains in the EU
"Hundreds of thousands of Cypriot people living in the UK have a voice in this referendum and have a lot to lose if Britain votes to leave the EU. For security, for the economy, for the freedom to live, travel and work in the UK; we are better off with the UK as part of Europe," reads a statement issued by the campaign.
"Cyprus Future is deeply concerned about the damaging impact a UK exit from the EU would have on the stability of the intertwined relations and economies of the Republic of Cyprus, and Britain. Our two nations have worked hard over painful decades to break down barriers between us in order to reach today’s all-time high in terms of our friendship and trade partnership. Let’s not raise barriers to this progress," it adds.
Cyprus Future spokesman John Kaponi said: “It is essential that we Cypriots in Britain use our unique right to register beforeJune 7th and go out and vote on June 23. Brexit is as much a Cypriot concern as a British one. We cannot stand by and watch Cyprus best friend and ally exit the EU after so much progress together. Brexit threatens the economic relationship between Britain and the Republic of Cyprus and the position of both countries on the world stage.”
Similar calls to all UK Cypritos have been made by Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides, the Cyprus High Commissioner to the UK Euripides Evriviades and the National Federation of Cypriots in the UK.