Every night we are bombarded with sleek government TV campaigns praising EU achievements and how lucky we are for been a full member of the EU Institution. Those adverts are a preamble in readiness for Cyprus to host a six-month rotating EU Presidency starting January 2026. These events offer nothing more than a PR exercise for the host nation, to squandering millions of taxpayers’ money, writes Andreas C Chrysafis.
Those self-praising commercials are reminiscent to propagandist Joseph Goebbels’ brainwashing tactics, “repeat a lie long enough and people will soon believe it’s true.”
The aim is to praise and inform the public that the EU has given Cyprus 4 Billion Euros in structural funds for the past 21 years. For that, we are expected to be grateful for joining this “one happy EU family” of “prosperity and protection”.
But what they don’t say is that Cyprus, in 2023, paid the EU its annual tribute—a proportion of its receipts from VAT, Custom Duties and GNI— amounting to €259 Million, plus millions more in penalties and other indirect taxation. Multiply that figure by 21 years and one soon recognizes the con job. Nothing is for nothing!
For this envisioned myth of “prosperity and security”, Cyprus has abandoned its political, social and economic freedom including its strong currency, to join a European bureaucrats’ bankers’ club that has failed to provide citizens economic stability and neither social security.
Instead, Cyprus today is experiencing the grim trends of homelessness, bank repossessions, poverty and a punitive cost of living—conditions the country never experienced before joining the EU! In fact, citizens across the country are struggling to survive!
Meanwhile, Cyprus has developed a strong relationship with America and Israel for “protection and prosperity” so why does Cyprus remains a member of this failed EU institution?
The time has come to abandon this rickety train before it is much too late. Cyprus still has the chance—but does it have the vision or the political will to do so, as the UK did? Very doubtful!
Who shall govern Cyprus – Brussels or Nicosia?
