Brussels
is in full blame-game mode today following last night’s rejection by the
Cypriot parliament of the bailout package offered to the country by the EU. It’s a
veritable whodunit mystery, with the answer depending on whether you’re inclined
to believe the President of Cyprus, or the rest of Europe.
All sides agree on one thing – the decision taken by European finance ministers in the
early hours of Saturday morning to require a
one-time levy on all Cypriot bank accounts in exchange for the bail-out was
colossally stupid, plunging the Eurozone into a new crisis and risking a bank
run in the country. What cannot be agreed upon is whose idea it was.
Raiding people’s savings accounts is an unprecedented move.
Such conditions were not imposed on any other country receiving bailout money,
and indeed no such idea was ever even discussed. But Cyprus is a special case. As the
likelihood of an EU bailout for the small Mediterranean island increased, worry
began growing that the move would actually be a bail-out for wealthy Russian
oligarchs who use the island for money-laundering or tax-evading.
