Our View: Hybrid attack claims don’t answer corruption questions

The government finally came up with a narrative to defend itself against the revelations made in the video posted on ‘X’ last Thursday. Deputy government spokesman Yiannis Antoniou told CyBC on Saturday morning that the video, which was a combination of real footage with “doctored sound and pictures,” was part of a “hybrid” attack against the Republic.

Although he avoided naming the state behind the hybrid operations, Phileleftheros newspaper, which has very close ties with the presidential palace, reported that the “malicious activity bears all the characteristics of organised disinformation campaigns by Russia.” It added that “the experts,” who were not named, “do not rule out that Thursday’s attack could constitute a sign of possible related malicious actions, during the exercise of the presidency of the EU by the Republic.”

Antoniou, supporting this explanation, said that the government had been warned by Brussels about the possibility of “hybrid threats,” when it took over the presidency. And as Phileleftheros reported, the video has all the features of the Russian “Doppleganger” campaign – “an organised hybrid misinformation campaign, that exists since 2021 and targets member-states of the EU.”

It is entirely possible that the Republic was made the target of a misinformation campaign by Russia, which has been carrying out such operations since the time of the Soviet Union, but this does not mean that the allegations made in the video, even if some were the “product of montage and splicing,” should be ignored. Despite President Nikos Christodoulides’ subsequent protestations of absolute innocence and his assertion that “I will give no-one the right to accuse me of corruption,” some issues of serious concern were raised by the video that cannot be ignored.

Former energy minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis, for example, may have reported the so-called investors to CID for filming him secretly and subsequently using creative editing to misrepresent what he said, but at the same time he made a shocking revelation, implicating the president. He said on camera that Christodoulides was taking cash under the table for his election campaign, because he needed more than the €1 million limit set by the law on campaign spending.

Should this revelation of law-breaking not be investigated by police? If it is found to be the product of creative sound and picture editing the matter can be dropped but otherwise the attorney-general has a duty to order a police investigation and call in Lakkotrypis and Christodoulides’ election campaign manager for questioning. Lakkotrypis had also made other revelations, regarding the support of sanctioned Russian oligarchs by the government at the EU, but that could also be the result of creative editing.

One issue mentioned in the video about which no doubts could be voiced, was the operation of the ‘Independent Agency of Social Support’ that is run by the wife of the president, Philippa Christodoulides-Karsera. The fundraising of this Agency, which gives money to needy university students, is shrouded in secrecy, and all attempts by political parties to introduce transparency have been resisted by the government. A bill obliging the agency to disclose the names of donors contributing more than €5,000 was, bizarrely, sent back to the legislature last year by the president, as unconstitutional.

But as the video indicated, investors are advised to contribute to the fund, the clear implication being they would have access to and influence in the government. And the total lack of transparency ensures contributions to the fund could be secretly rewared by the government. An Audit Office report gave specific examples of companies making big contributions to the first lady’s fund benefiting from government decisions. The CEO of Cyprus’ biggest construction company which has countless public projects, said on the video that he makes contributions of up to €250,000 to the government, in the name of Corporate Social Responsibility. How the state treats the company, given this secret generosity nobody knows.

The government may have been the target of a malicious hybrid attack by Russia, but the 8.5-minute video posted on ‘X’ did raise red flags about the way the government operates, and the allegations of corruption were not without substance. These can be fixed, if the government is as committed to transparency and accountability as the president claims to be.