EU Elections 2024
Candidates' Profiles
Andromachi Sophocleous
Co Vice-President, Volt Cyprus
Political Analyst, Activist
Andromachi Sophocleous is a graduate in political sciences and history of political thought (University College London (UCL) and University of London, U.K), and has been working as a consultant on issues related to the domestic and international political scene for the last few years.
Her areas of interest include, among others, the rise of the far right, energy developments in Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean as well as the Cyprus problem.
Active in civil society, she is present in movements for reunification, human rights and environmental protection.
Hulusi Kilim
Secretary General Volt Cyprus
International Trade, Activist
Hulusi was born and raised in Famagusta. He studied Business Administration at the University of Bath, UK, followed by a Masters degree in Supply Chain and Logistics Management at the University of Warwick.
Professionally, Hulusi is a marketing and communications specialist and a business strategist in the consumer goods industry.
Hulusi has been actively involved in the reconciliation efforts of the people of the island. The motivation to contribute to the efforts led him to become a bilingual citizen. He is trained in conflict resolution and attended critical mass leadership programmes in the USA. For two terms, Hulusi served as the vice president of the Famagusta Antenna of the European Students Forum (AEGEE), a non-political European youth network.
He has been an active member of Famagusta Initiative and the founding member of the Bicommunal Famagusta Initiative, an initiative which received the European Citizens’ Prize from the European Parliament in 2018.
Lysia Demetriou
Clinical Researcher
Dr. Lysia Demetriou is a psychology graduate from the University of Warwick, with an MA in Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of York and a PhD from Imperial College London. In recent years she has been working as a scientific researcher at the University of Oxford. He has worked on major research projects in the field of clinical medical research and has published in international scientific journals.
Her interests include women's health and mental health issues, as well as modernization in education.
Makarios Drousiotis
Investigative Journalist, Writer
Makarios Drousiotis is an investigative journalist and writer. Over the course of his career he has published 12 books on various aspects of the recent history of Cyprus. He has written for several newspapers in Cyprus and in Greece.
Makarios became actively involved in politics for the first time in the early 2010s when he worked on the presidential electoral campaign of Nicos Anastasiades. After Anastasiades won, he was appointed as his special advisor. Makarios also served as a personal assistant to Cyprus’ EU Commissioner, Mr Christos Stylianides in Brussels where he served until 2019.
His latest published work is a trilogy about corruption in Cyprus.
Nikolas Kyriakou
Lawyer, EU Official
Nikolas Kyriacou was born in Greece and grew up in Cyprus. He graduated from the Faculty of Law of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, followed by postgraduate studies in European Community Law at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands and in Comparative, International and European Law at the European University Institute in Florence. He received his PhD from the same university on enforced disappearances in international human rights law.
Nikolas practiced law in Nicosia, and worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Legal Service of the Republic of Cyprus, representing Cyprus before international bodies.
At the same time, he taught at the University of Cyprus and the Open University of Cyprus. He later continued his career in the European Union, with positions at the Court of Justice of the EU, Europol and Eurojust.
He was a member of the group assisting the Greek Cypriot negotiator for the Cyprus issue and participated in all stages of the negotiations in Nicosia, Mont Pelerin, Geneva and Crans Montana.
He has published articles in scientific reviews, was a national expert in studies regarding European environmental law, and has published the book "10 + 1 myths about the Cyprus problem”
Sophia Vassiliou
Research Specialist
Sophia is a Qualitative Research Expert. She has studied Human Geography and Economics in the University of Reading, and completed her Masters Degree in International Relations in the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, USA.
Sophia has a long experience in real time electronic measurements for TV, Radio & Print media in Cyprus both for local clients, as well as on behalf of international organizations for which she has worked to provide qualitative research and incorporating the latest thinking in the field to offer a bespoke approach and actionable insights to her clients.
She has served as a Municipal councilor for the Municipality of Nicosia from 2002 to 2006.
Sophia received a diploma in yoga therapy in 2023 and works in elevating people's well-being and quality of life, through yoga therapy.