Nicos Anastasiades

Anastasiades in Dublin in March 2014

In March 2012, Nicos Anastasiades was nominated as a candidate for the 2013 presidential election, against his rival MEP Eleni Theocharous in a vote among the 1,008 strong executive of the Democratic Rally.[7] Nicos Anastasiades received 673 votes (86.73%) and Theocharous received 103 (13.27%). In the first round of the presidential election on 17 February 2013, Anastasiades won 45% of votes, while Stavros Malas and George Lillikas earned 26.9% and 24.9%, respectively.[8] He won in the second round against Malas with 57.48% of the vote and was sworn in as president on 28 February 2013.

In a repeat of the previous election, he once again beat Malas in 2018.

He pledged to implement the Structural Reforms demanded by the European Commission in order to obtain economic aid and cut social benefits, pensions and wages in the public and private sectors, while increasing VAT and fuel taxes. He also decided to reduce the number of civil servants.[9][10]

Anastasiades had to break campaign promises by agreeing to let the banks confiscate 47.5 percent of bank accounts over 100,000 euros in 2013, in order to acquire a 10-billion euro bailout from international lenders.[11]

Speaking before a committee of inquiry into the island's economic collapse, Anastasiades conceded he reneged on his pledges not to accept a "haircut" on deposits, stressing that the alternative would have been catastrophic for Cyprus.[12]

He later came to comment that Cyprus was treated as a guinea pig with extreme measures never applied before, but despite his counter-proposals they were all blatantly rejected during the Eurogroup meeting.[13] However, such claims were heavily criticized on the press for being misleading, citing references from Eurogroup's members who stated that the bailout plan was actually Anastasiades's proposal.[12] Additional criticism was due to claims that the president himself warned his associates and friends to move money abroad before financial crisis hit.[14]

Despite the heavy criticism, the government's effective management of capital controls, however, revived the country's banking system, and Cyprus was able to exit the bailout in 2016.[15]

José Manuel Barroso (left) and Anastasiades in January 2013 in Cyprus

Angela Merkel with Anastasiades in 2013 at the EPP summit in Limassol

During his electoral campaign for the post of Cyprus President in 2013, he announced his commitment to reduce military conscription in Cyprus to 14 months during the first hundred days of his term.[16] During the early months of the Anastasiades administration there was important planning for the reduction of military conscription to 14 months in order to increase the incentive for 18 year olds to serve their conscription and to reduce the financial burden to the Cypriot state. Minister of Defence Fotis Fotiou announced that there would be a final decision on the reduction of military conscription towards late 2013. There was increasing pressure for ending military conscription due to the 2012–13 Cypriot financial crisis.

In early August 2013, Minister of Defence Fotis Fotiou announced the reduction of military service, which was in the electoral manifesto of Anastasiades. He supported that national service will be reduced to 18 months in the first phase and decrease further to 14 months before the end of 2014. On 25 February 2016, it was decided by the cabinet to reduce the military service to 18 months for all conscripts who joined in the summer of 2015, and to reduce the service to 14 months for all those who joined thereafter.[17]

As part of these proposals to professionalise the National Guard, President Anastasiades introduced the contracted soldiers "Συμβασιούχοι Οπλίτες (ΣΥΟΠ)" whose role is to mainly cover the operational needs of the National Guard now that the military service was reduced to up to 14 months, an initiative which has been considered to be successful.[18]

Anastasiades alongside former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (middle) and Bosnian Presidency member Šefik Džaferović (left) in November 2019.

Anastasiades with Israel's President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem in November 2022

Anastasiades supported the Annan Plan, even though a majority (61%) of his party voted it down. Some of his intra-party opposition even called for Anastasiades to step down.[19] Many party cadres were up in arms over Anastasiades' letter to the European Parliament alleging that the government trampled on free speech and human rights during the referendum's "Yes" campaign. The government cited the National Television Council's data that showed that the six parties supporting the "No" vote got as much air time as the two that supported the UN plan.[20] The start of peace negotiations between Nicos Anastasiades and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart began in October 2013, attracting the interest of international media and world leaders including Barack Obama.[21]

In October 2022, Anastasiades condemned the European Union's "double standards" and "tolerance" toward Turkey, arguing that "Interests cannot take precedence over principles and values. We cannot say that we are currently making sacrifices to help Ukraine – and rightly so – to cope with the illegal invasion and violation of its territorial integrity and, at the same time, we put our interests first in our relations with Turkey."[22]

On 3 November 2019, newspapers reported that under Anastasiades' government, controversial Malaysian figure Jho Low had been granted Cypriot citizenship.[23] It was reported that Jho Low obtained the passport under the Cypriot citizenship investment scheme just two days after investing in Cypriot property.There was no warrant against Jho Low for the 1MDB scandal; however, he was already under investigation and investigators were closing in on him for his alleged money laundering activities.[24] He was granted the passport despite the fact that a background check on him raised several red flags because of his status as a politically exposed person, as well as his alleged fraud and regulatory breaches.[24] It was also revealed that while the golden passport scheme normally requires applicants to live in the country for at least seven years, as well as buy property, the decision to override this requirement was taken by the country's cabinet. However, the such exemptions are frequently granted.[25] The revelation concerning Jho Low's Cypriot citizenship came after the Cypriot citizenship investment scheme, implemented by Anastasiades's cabinet to increase foreign investment, came under scrutiny. This was due to the decision to grant citizenship to Cambodian elites.[26][27]

In August 2019, an OCCRP report linked President Anastasiades' Law firm, which he co-owned and from which he stepped away just as he was ascending to the presidency in 2013, with "business deals linked to a friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the infamous Magnitsky scandal, and a network of companies used in various financial crimes."[28] Both of President Anastasiades' daughters are still partners in the firm, and he still has a private office in the building. The report revealed that Anastasiades' Law firm "executed complex deals that moved Russian money to and from shell companies created by and associated with the firm", two of which appear to be deeply entwined with the Troika Laundromat.[28] [29] The accusations were never proven.

In October 2021, his name was mentioned in the infamous Pandora papers. [30]