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The newly elected President of Cyprus: Nikos Christodoulidis
Photo: Petros Karadjias / dpa
Former Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulidis has won the presidential election in the small EU island republic of Cyprus.
The 49-year-old conservative politician came from 97 percent of the votes counted in the runoff to 51.8 percent, the state broadcaster reported, citing the Ministry of the Interior.
The diplomat Andreas Mavrogiannis (66), supported by the Left Party AKEL, came up with 48.2 percent and admitted his defeat.
"I congratulated Nikos (Christodoulidis)," Mavrogiannis said on state television.
Christodoulidis, as an independent candidate, was supported by centrist and center-right parties, while Mavrogiannis was supported by a left-wing party.
The incumbent President Nikos Anastasiades was not allowed to stand again.
Migration and reunification as a challenge
The future president of the EU member state faces challenges such as resuming talks on the political reunification of the two parts of the island, labor disputes, corruption scandals and migration.
According to its own statements, the Mediterranean island records the most asylum applications per year in the EU in relation to the population.
According to this, six percent of the 915,000 inhabitants of the island are seeking protection.
According to experts, the decades-long division of the Mediterranean island played a minor role in the election.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974.
At that time, the Turkish army had occupied the north after a military coup by the Greek Cypriots.
Voter turnout was 72.2 percent
The election was important because the president, elected directly by the people, appoints and leads the government.
The Turkish Cypriot north did not take part in the vote, only the southern part of the island voted.
A total of 14 candidates, including two women, applied to succeed Anastasiade.
In Cyprus, the President is both the head of state and the head of government.
Around 561,000 citizens were eligible to vote and, according to official figures, the turnout was 72.2 percent, slightly higher than in the first ballot.
jpa/dpa/Reuters