Volt Cyprus (Greek: Βολτ Κύπρος, Turkish: Volt Kıbrıs) is a political party in Cyprus and the Cyprus branch of Volt Europa, a Eurofederalist pan-European political party and movement, which advocates for greater European cooperation across Europe.
Volt Cyprus Βολτ Κύπρος Volt Kıbrıs | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | Βολτ / Volt |
| President | Alexandra Attalides Charilaos Velaris |
| Chairperson | Andromachi Sophocleous Panos Loizou Parras |
| General Secretary | Hulusi Kilim |
| Spokesperson | Pieros Karoullas |
| Founded | 2021 |
| Registered | 3 December 2023 |
| Merger of | Famagusta for Cyprus New Wave – The Other Cyprus[1] |
| Ideology | Pro-Europeanism European federalism United Cyprus Progressivism[2] |
| European affiliation | Volt Europa |
| House of Representatives | 1 / 56 |
| European Parliament | 0 / 6 |
| Municipal Councils | 1 / 443 |
| Website | |
| https://voltcyprus.org/ | |
History
editVolt became active in Cyprus with a close cooperation with the movement New Wave - The Other Cyprus with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on 4 November 2021. In it, the movements agreed to cooperate more closely and merge after the 2023 presidential election and New Wave - The Other Cyprus renamed itself into Neo Kyma || Volt Cyprus - The Other Cyprus.[3][4] With their candidate Constantinos Christofides they received 1.6% of the vote in the first round of the election.[5]
On 26 October 2023, Volt, New Wave and the Famagusta for Cyprus movement announced their merger and the formation of Volt Cyprus as a party.[6] On 27 November, Member of Parliament Alexandra Attalides, of the Ecologists at the time, announced that she would become a member of Volt.[7] On 3 December, the party adopted its statutes at its founding party conference and elected Alexandra Attalides and Charilaos Velaris as chairpersons.[8][9] Hulusi Kilim, a Turkish Cypriot, was elected Secretary General, making him the first Turkish Cypriot politician to hold the highest office in a party that is active in the Republic of Cyprus and Volt the only party that currently unites both the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities under one roof.[10]
Policies
editAs part of the pan-European movement Volt Europa, the party aims to solve current challenges and issues such as climate change, migration and artificial intelligence through closer European cooperation.[11]
Cyprus conflict
editVolt is in favour of a united Cyprus. To resolve the Cyprus conflict, the party is in favour of reopening communication channels between the different parts of the country in order to close the communication gap created by closed checkpoints. To this end, it proposes, among other things, to abolish obstacles such as double insurance for cars and charges for telephone calls between the different parts of the country. Intra-Cypriot trade is to be strengthened in order to create mutual dependencies. The ceasefire regime should be strengthened through a peace agreement and common Cypriot interests should be placed more at the center.[10]
European policy
editThe party aims to establish a federal united Europe with a common European army, a European government with a European prime minister, and a European ministry of finance and economy to better respond to global challenges.[11]
Organisation
editThe party is led by a dual leadership consisting of a man and a woman.[12]
Election
editEuropean Parliament 2024
editVolt's programme for the European elections was adopted on 27 November at the Volt Europa General Assembly in Paris and applies equally to Volt throughout Europe.[13] On 25 February, the party elected its 6 candidates. The leading candidates are Andromache Sophocleous and Hulusi Kilim. The list also includes the investigative journalist Makarios Drousiotis.[14]
Election results
editEuropean Parliament
edit| Election | Votes | Seats | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | Rank | # | ± | |
| 2024 | 10,777 | 2.92 | 7th | 0 / 6 |
new |
References
edit- ^ "Αριθμός 275 Ο ΠΕΡΙ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΩΝ ΚΟΜΜΑΤΩΝ ΝΟΜΟΣ (ΝΟΜΟΣ 175(Ι)/2012 [Άρθρο 3] Αλλαγή Ονόματος Πολιτικού Κόμματος" (PDF). mof.gov.cy (in Greek). ΕΠΙΣΗΜΗ ΕΦΗΜΕΡΙΔΑ ΤΗΣ ΚΥΠΡΙΑΚΗΣ ΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑΣ ΚΥΡΙΟ ΜΕΡΟΣ ΤΜΗΜΑ B. 2024-01-19. p. 316. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
- ^ "Ατταλίδου στη CT: Με δικό του ψηφοδέλτιο και 6 υποψήφιους στις ευρωεκλογές το Βόλτ". cyprustimes.com (in Greek). 2023-12-17. Retrieved 2024-04-06.
- ^ ""Nα ��άθουν στους πολίτες τις αξίες της ευρωπαϊκής αλληλεγγύης"". politis.com.cy. 2022-02-07. Archived from the original on 2022-02-07. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
- ^ Economidou, Xenia (2021-11-14). "Neo Kyma joins Volt, the pan-European movement". Νέο Κύμα – Η Άλλη Κύπρος. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
- ^ "Κύπρος: Χριστοδουλίδης εναντίον Μαυρογιάννη στον β΄γύρο – DW – 05/02/2023". dw.com (in Greek). Retrieved 2023-12-04.
- ^ "New political party 'Volt Cyprus' to be unveiled tomorrow". in-cyprus.philenews.com. 2023-12-04. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
- ^ "Ανακοίνωσε συμπόρευση με το ΒΟΛΤ η Ατταλίδου. "Ένα καλύτερο βήμα να αγωνιστώ"". cyprustimes.com (in Greek). 2023-11-27. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
- ^ "Το νέο κόμμα Volt Cyprus είναι γεγονός, ποιος ανέλαβε την Προεδρία (ΦΩΤΟ) | AlphaNews.Live". www.alphanews.live (in Greek). Retrieved 2023-12-04.
- ^ "Volt Cyprus: Γεγονός το νέο κόμμα – Όλα τα ονόματα που εντάχθηκαν". sigmalive.com. 2023-12-03. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
- ^ a b Solutions, BDigital Web. "Συνέντευξη: Η βιωσιμότητα μιας πιθανής λύσης εξαρτάται από εμάς". Kathimerini.com.cy (in Greek). Retrieved 2023-12-26.
- ^ a b "Ατταλίδου στη CT: Με δικό του ψηφοδέλτιο και 6 υποψήφιους στις ευρωεκλογές το Βόλτ". cyprustimes.com (in Greek). 2023-12-17. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
- ^ "Hopeful new party Volt Cyprus aims to fill political gap". in-cyprus.philenews.com. 2023-12-26. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
- ^ "Volt Europa Unveils Bold Vision for Europe and Elects New Leadership". Volt Europa. Retrieved 2024-02-25.
- ^ "Volt Cyprus announces candidates for EU elections with Makarios Drousiotis featuring". in-cyprus.philenews.com. 2024-02-24. Retrieved 2024-02-25.