Cyprus faces public and political backlash over removal of parents' names from IDs

Since July 2026, the Republic of Cyprus has begun issuing new biometric identity cards that exclude the fields for the holder’s mother’s and father’s names. This change was implemented following an amendment to the government’s contract with the document printing company and was not publicly announced prior to its rollout. The Interior Ministry defends the move by citing European Union Regulation 2025/1208, international ICAO standards, and the recommendation of the Commissioner for Children’s Rights, who argued that marking names as unknown on IDs leads to the social stigmatization of children from single-parent households.

The decision has triggered significant opposition from various political parties. ELAM intends to submit a bill to mandate the inclusion of parents’ names, while DISY and DIPA are advocating for a voluntary system where citizens can choose whether to display these details. The Interior Ministry maintains that a majority of political parties, including DISY, had previously supported the removal of these fields during parliamentary discussions in 2020 and 2022. Amid the current public and political outcry, the Ministry has stated it is open to discussing a potential revision of the policy if there is sufficient parliamentary consensus.