On July 18, 2024, the members of the Paphos Municipal Council unanimously reversed their decision of December 22, 2022, to award American Senator Bob Menendez the title of honorary citizen of Paphos and award him the Golden Key to the city. 

This happened after a Manhattan court found Menendez guilty on July 16 on all 16 counts, including bribery and acting as a foreign agent while serving as head of the U.S. Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.

“The decision makes a tangible contribution to the creation of a culture of fighting corruption and nepotism, thereby strengthening the institutions of our society and the country,” the Paphos Municipality said in a statement.

The criminal case against Menendez was opened in October 2022. During a search of his home in New Jersey, 480 thousand dollars in cash were found, as well as gold bars worth more than 100 thousand dollars.

According to investigators, in exchange for bribes from three businessmen, the head of the US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee helped send billions of dollars of American aid to Egypt.

The defense stated that the senator regularly withdrew cash from banks and kept it at home. Menendez’s older sister said he picked up the habit from his parents who fled Cuba and always kept cash at home.

Bob Menendez was one of the authors of the bill on the new US strategy in the Eastern Mediterranean. He proposed replacing Russian military equipment in Cyprus with NATO equipment and banning Russian warships from entering Cypriot ports.

Photo: Cyprus News Agency

Information channel “Europe-Cyprus”