Greek Cypriot YouTuber among winners in European Parliament elections

By Aynur Seyma Asan and Dilara Karatas

Along with other candidates, a Greek Cypriot YouTuber has won a seat in the European Parliament in this year’s EU-wide elections.

In the Greek Cypriot administration, Fidias Panayiotou secured a seat with 19.3% (71,000) of the vote, the Turkish News Agency-Cyprus reported, based on Greek media reports.

On YouTube, Panayiotou gained fame – and some notoriety – for his quest to hug businessman Elon Musk and other celebrities, and his efforts to travel across various countries without paying any money.

According to unofficial results, two deputies from the conservative center-right Democratic Mobilization Party also won EP seats with 24.8% of the vote.

With 21.5%, the far-left Progressive Party of Working People won one seat, as did the far-right, anti-immigrant National People's Front and the Democratic Party.

Six MEPs will represent the Greek Cypriot administration in the European Parliament.

Elections were held on June 6-9 in the 27 members of the EU. A total of 720 deputies were elected, 15 more than the previous elections in 2019.

Since 1979 they have been elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year period.​​​​​​​

*Writing by Gozde Bayar