Anastasiades to undergo heart surgery in the US on Dec 4
Cyprus’s President Nicos Anastasiades will have heart surgery in the United States on Dec. 4, a government spokesman said on Tuesday.
Anastasiades, 68, will fly to the United States on Nov. 29 ahead of the operation, government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said in a statement.
Doctors advised surgery for Anastasiades, who is a heavy smoker, earlier this month. He had previously said he would have the operation after the Christmas holidays, citing a heavy work schedule.
Anastasiades was expected back in Cyprus before Christmas, Christodoulides said.
Anastasiades was elected president of Cyprus in February 2013 for a five-year term, and immediately negotiated a financial bailout for the then almost-bankrupt island.
He has no known history of health problems, but had to pull out of an EU summit last month from heavy nosebleeds caused by high blood pressure.
Executive power in Cyprus is vested in the presidency. [Reuters]
