A communist election victory on a quarrelsome east Mediterranean island is not normally taken to be a harbinger of good tidings. Behold the exception: Greek Cypriots’ overwhelming endorsement of Demetris Christofias, leader of the leftwing Akel party, as the new president of Cyprus heralds an opportunity to reunite the divided island and heal a running sore in the European Union’s relations with Turkey.

Mr Christofias was elected not for his pallid pink programme – Old Labour at most – but because the government he had previously supported, led by the hardline nationalist president, Tassos Papadopoulos, had sets its face against resolving the partition of Cyprus.