The election of Senior Counsel of the Republic Alexia Kalispera to one of the seven positions of the Bureau of the Group of States Members of the Council of Europe against Corruption (GRECO) is a significant success for the country at the international level, a statement by the Office of the Attorney General said on Monday.

Kalispera received the affirmative vote of 30 out of the 46 GRECO member states that voted by secret ballot for the election of the new Governing Board for GRECO’s Sixth Evaluation Round, thus securing a seat on the Bureau, during the election procedure held in the framework of the 98th GRECO Plenary Session in Strasbourg, between 18 and 22 November 2024, the press release says.

As noted, “this is a significant success for the country at the international level, as it is the first time that Cyprus has achieved election to this important Council of Europe body, which is mandated to help its members fight corruption by monitoring their compliance with the Council of Europe's anti-corruption standards through a dynamic evaluation process”. It is added that Kalispera's nomination was also supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

It is further noted that GRECO currently has 48 member states (Russia and Latvia have withdrawn), and in aggregate, the seven seats on the new GRECO Board of Directors are held by David Meyer, President (United Kingdom), Antonio Delicado, Vice-President (Portugal), Alexia Kalispera, member (Cyprus), Lise Chipault, member (France), Panagiota Vatikalou, member (Greece), Sorin Tănase, member (Romania) and Olivier Gonin, member (Switzerland). The term of office of the new Board of Directors will start on 1 January 2025, with effect until the completion of the Sixth GRECO Evaluation Round.

Regarding Alexia Kalispera, it is stated that she has been the head of the Cypriot delegation to GRECO since 2015, demonstrating active participation in GRECO's work.

It is added that she has also been selected as an Evaluator in the Fifth GRECO Evaluation Round (Prevention of Corruption in Central Governments and Law Enforcement Bodies) for Latvia, Ireland and Liechtenstein, as an Evaluator for the Ad Hoc Report of Greece in the Fourth GRECO Evaluation Round (Prevention of Corruption in Members of Parliament, the Judiciary and Prosecuting Authorities), as Rapporteur for the United States, the United Kingdom, Albania, Greece, Croatia and the United Kingdom in the context of compliance with GRECO's Fourth Evaluation Round, and as Rapporteur for Croatia in the context of GRECO's Fifth Evaluation Round.