In an exclusive interview with independent journalist Caolan Robertson, Fidias Panayiotou said that he paid for his trip to Moscow with his own funds. Caolan Robertson is an independent and investigative journalist living in Kyiv.
Fidias Panayiotou, a Cypriot and unattached Member of the European Parliament, went to Moscow on May 9th, during the Russian celebration of Victory Day. He was photographed with other MEPs holding roses, outside the Kremlin Walls, near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, suggesting he participated in a wreath laying ceremony. He denies he watched the Victory Day Parade which serves as a yearly exhibit of Russian military hardware.
In a very hard pressing interview, Fidias Panayiotou denied that he is a Russian asset and said that his opinion simply aligns with that of the Kremlin. When asked why he was taking the side of the aggressor by promoting and distributing Russian talking points on a daily basis, Fidias Panayiotou kept referring to Cyprus and its division by Turkey. He said that Europe should speak to the aggressor to end what he describes as a “conflict”.
When asked why he voted against a motion in Parliament demanding the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia, Fidias Panayiotou claimed it was because the research papers provided to him “exaggerated the situation”. He added that the two papers, which were given to him by the European Parliament, had been funded by President Volodymyr Zelensky and former US President Joe Biden. He also said that he tried to get a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov when he was in Moscow but didn’t manage to get the appointment.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has a pending arrest warrant against him by the International Criminal Court for the war crime of abducting up to 20,000 Ukrainian children and taking them to Russia. These children are being fostered by Russian parents and are sent to Russian schools and camps that re-indoctrinate them into Russian citizens. Other sources say the figure is even higher and may reach up to 100,000 children.
You can watch documentaries on this ongoing Russian war crime by independent press outlets here and here. You can watch the interview with Fidias Panayiotou by Caolan Robertson below.
Website Editor
Historian and Publisher
Leave a Reply