The first European Parliament elections in Cyprus: The challenge of European integration in a society striving for reunification

Abstract

The article provides an account of the first European Parliament elections in Cyprus. It aims to address key issues pertaining to the background, campaign and results of the elections as well as to contribute to the growing literature concerned with European integration, civil participation and domestic politics. It offers a brief sketch of the party system and the way political parties relate to their counterparts in the European Parliament. It analyses how the parallel referenda on the UN Plan for a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem, held a few weeks before the European Parliament elections, overshadowed European issues and kept national considerations to the fore. © 2005 Taylor & Francis Group Ltd.