He was General Secretary of AKEL from 1988 until 2009 and served as President of Cyprus from 2008 until 2013. Throughout his political career, he was an ally of the PES and a force for reconciliation on a divided island.
PES President Sergei Stanishev said:
“I would like to pass my condolences onto the family and friends of Dimitris. He was a proud Cypriot and remained a committed advocate of left-wing politics throughout his life. Although we belonged to different political families, he was always a friend of the PES and a constructive partner in the wider progressive movement.
“As President, Dimitris steered his nation through a difficult period following the financial crisis. He worked tirelessly to reunify the Greek and Turkish sectors of the island, making use of his long-standing links with the Turkish Cypriot trade union movement when trying to broker peace. He made significant progress towards reconciling his divided nation, and for that history will praise him. He will be sorely missed.”
Dimitris Christofias was born to a working class family in 1946, in Kyrenia, a province in the north of Cyprus. He will receive a state funeral today.
