‘YouTuber’ Phidias revolutionises politics in Cyprus: “I can’t believe it… I’m an MEP!” | European elections 2024 | News

Phidias enters Nicosia’s Freedom Square running as if he had scored a goal. In white shorts and a short-sleeved T-shirt, he climbs onto a bench and starts jumping while the crowd cheers him on: “Phidias, Phidias!” And he, genuinely surprised and grateful, says: “I can’t believe it… I’m an MEP!”

He is certainly the name of the hour, the young man who has shaken up Cyprus politics. Phidias Panayiotou, 24 years old and youtuber Professionally, he participated in the European elections as an independent candidate, with very few appearances in traditional media, hardly any public events; nevertheless, he managed to win a record MEP after obtaining almost 20% of the vote, coming close to challenging the second most voted party for the position, the eurocommunist AKEL. More than that, according to exit polls, he was the most voted candidate among young people: 39.5% of voters between 18 and 24 years old – that is, those who voted for the first time – chose him and 27.5% in the age group between 25 and 34 years old.

The son of an Orthodox priest in a large family, Phidias began publishing videos on YouTube in 2019, later on TikTok and Instagram. It has 2.62 million subscribers on YouTube alone, twice the population of the Republic of Cyprus. They are basically entertainment videos with a humorous touch: “I spent 100 hours inside a hamster ball”, “I stayed seven days in an airport without spending money”, “I traveled the world without money” – for these episodes he had problems in Japan and India after sneaking into public transport without paying. But one of his greatest successes was when he did not stop yelling at Elon Musk for weeks – and ordered his followers to do the same – until he received a hug from the billionaire owner of X and Tesla.

Of course, all these videos transcend a rhetoric of self-improvement, of “if you want, you can” and of the individualistic aspiration typical of these social networks. “I voted for him because he inspires me and, like me, he has inspired many people. He has many qualities and he can achieve whatever he sets his mind to. Setting a goal and working towards it, like when he decided to become an MEP six months ago,” explains Anastasis, a young voter.

“We have many messages to give. When all those commentators found out the result, they got scared, because they knew things were going to change. Now they have to listen to the people,” he told his followers in pure populist style at the party he held in the Plaza de la Libertad after his election. Asked by EL PAIS in the midst of the celebrations, he added: “This election is good news for democracy, for a more direct democracy, for a new democracy.” And he refused to answer more questions because his followers needed to ask themselves this question Selfie.

In his speeches he has advocated greater democratic participation through social networks and argued that his election without the support of any political party is a milestone in world history, even though there are many others who have made and achieved this before.

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some conceptual clarity

Of course, he is very difficult to place politically: environmentalists tried to include him in their list, but, after putting the issue to a vote among his followers, he rejected the offer. One of those celebrating his victory on Sunday night had carried a flag bearing the motto: “Victory or death. Either with the shield or on it”, a slogan used by Greek ultranationalists. There was also another man who demanded that he sing the national anthem: Phidias looked at him and then completely ignored him. He himself, who has no higher education, has admitted that he has no idea about European politics, but has shown himself willing to study it and try to “become the best MEP in history”. An analysis in the Cypriot press this Monday considered that most of the votes Phidias received came from young people, who would otherwise have abstained from voting or who could have voted for the extreme right as a sign of protest in a climate of excessive pressure. Speech. Anti-immigration.

“He is an intelligent kid and has good intentions,” explains a businessman and civil society activist who is very involved in the negotiations for the reunification of Cyprus and who shares a political advisor with the new MEP. He has met with him in the coming weeks to give his thoughts on the Cyprus issue and the dialogue between the Greek and Turkish communities on the island: “I believe that, if he doesn’t take the wrong direction, he can be very positive and put the agenda for young people and tech issues in the foreground.”

Among those celebrating their victory in the Plaza de la Libertad were many young people, almost teenagers, of different profiles, but all of them tired of a system that does not take them into account, of parties that do not speak their same language. “We voted for him because he is young and we believe in him. We have been seeing the same shit for years from the usual old people, the big names from DISY (the conservative party that won the European elections) and AKEL. “Why not give someone new a chance?” say 20-year-old couple Yannis and Panayiotas. “And do you think Phidias can achieve something in the European Parliament? To which Yannis replies: “And what have the big names in (Cypriot) politics achieved for us so far?”

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