Cyprus’ new deal isn’t a bailout at all – it’s an overnight assassination, Chrysostomos Adamides from the “Wake up Cyprus” group told RT.
He added that the government’s plan is like planting a bomb in
the structure of the financial system itself.
Adamides’ thoughts were echoed by thousands of high school and
university students on Tuesday, as they marched to the presidential
palace in the Cypriot capital of Nicosia. The demonstrators chanted
slogans and said their future had been stolen.
Cyprus’ bailout plan has angered the island nation, as the
government threatens to take a 40 per cent tax from accounts held
in the country’s two largest banks.
Financial institutions across the country are shut down until
Thursday to prevent a massive run on accounts.
RT:You're in the Cypriot capital - how are people
responding to the financial turbulence? And how much patience do
you think they have left?
Chrysostomos Adamides: The people are shocked because at the
end of the day they did not expect these decisions from the
Eurogroup. I don’t think it’s correct to speak for a bailout. This
is not a bailout. It can be best described as an overnight
assassination.
Because with the decision that the Eurogroup has taken, they have
pretty much destroyed 40% of the economy and now they will also add
on top of the debt problem that we already have, another loan, and
you have to understand that the math will not work.
RT:You talk about 40% of what they call taxes, 40% being
taken out of certain various bank accounts with more than 100,000
euros. Not just the big players, the little average people are also
being hurt by this. The banks are closed until Thursday - how are
people expected to survive?
CA: Obviously we’re facing a new paradigm in the EU. This is
the first time that this has been done but obviously you do
understand it’s like planting a bomb in the structure of the
financial system itself. Therefore I can’t see how any investor or
people can keep their money in the banks when now that we will have
a debt problem twice or more as bad as it was before. Obviously
they will be afraid for a new levy on bank deposits so how are they
expected to keep their deposits in the bank and if they are not,
how do the banks expect to continue?
RT:The head of the largest Cypriot bank resigned after
it was announced that the Bank of Cyprus will inherit billions of
toxic assets from Laiki bank. Do you believe that the country's
banking system will withstand such a challenge?
CA: This has been done elsewhere, we all know the example of
Greece. And the head of the bank of Cyprus has resigned for a very
good reason because he obviously acknowledges that they cannot go
on with these terms and conditions demanded by the Troika.
Therefore, there is no other solution. They should have said no to
these demands from the beginning and if they would like us to
continue as partners in the EU, then obviously we need to remain
partners and not just be pushed around because of our political
position and because of the problems we’ve been facing since 1974
and the illegal occupation of Turkey.
RT:A lot of the bankers on Cyprus have been pressured
from Brussels by the EU politicians there. However, at the end of
the day, do you trust the bankers now?
CA: That is a very funny question. Who can trust the
bankers? Don’t forget that this whole debacle started from the
banks themselves. Now we are being asked to trust the banks. This
is a joke. It cannot be asked of the people to do that. What the
regulators should have done is have the mechanisms in place since
obviously they cannot control the market, to actually have a face
save mechanism when things go wrong, to be able to control it
somehow. Instead, in the EU they are still discussing about the
mechanisms and every single bailout has new terms and conditions.
We have seen this five times. No two bailouts are exactly the same
in the Eurozone. And obviously this is not something that has
started now. It’s been going on since the 70s.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.