Former foreign minister Christodoulides wins race to be president of Cyprus

Presidential candidate Nikos Christodoulides smiles as walks with his supporters after casting his vote during the presidential elections in Geroskipou in south west coastal city of Paphos, Cyprus, Sunday, Feb. 12, 2023. Voting has started in a runoff to elect ethnically split Cyprus’ eighth new president, pitting a former foreign minister who campaigned as a unifier eschewing ideological and party divisions against a popular veteran diplomat. Some 561,000 citizens are eligible to vote and both Nikos Christoulides, the ex-foreign minister and Andreas Mavroyiannis are hoping for a higher turnout than the 72% that cast ballots in Feb. 5 first round. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Former foreign minister Nikos Christodoulides was elected as the new president of Cyprus in a run-off election on Sunday after his rival, veteran diplomat Andreas Mavroyiannis, conceded defeat.

With 99.5% of ballots counted, Christodoulides had 52% of the vote to Mr Mayroyiannis’ 48%, according to the official results.