Cypriots went to the polls on Sunday to vote in the second round of the presidential election, Reuters reported.

Two professional diplomats, Nikos Christodoulidis, 49, a former foreign minister, and Andreas Mavroyiannis, 66, who was the chief negotiator in peace talks with Turkish Cypriots and a former permanent representative of Cyprus to the United Nations, went to the second round of presidential elections in Cyprus.

Some 561,000 Greek Cypriots are eligible to vote. Polls opened at 05:00 GMT and closed at 16:00 GMT. Authorities are expected to announce the winner by 18:00 GMT.

Both remaining candidates are independents, with Christodoulidis supported by a small number of centrist and center-right parties and Mavroyiannis supported by the left wing of the Progressive Party of the Working People of Cyprus. 

The incumbent president of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades of the Democratic Rally Party, is not allowed by law to run for a third term and has stated that he supports the party line. But there were reports circulating that he wanted the party to support Christodoulides.

The next president will face problems ranging from a stalemate in negotiations over reunification with Turkish Cypriots on an ethnically divided island and labor disputes caused by skyrocketing inflation, to the effects of corruption scandals and a surge in illegal migration.