Banks are the true culprits. It is normal that the banking world is on the defensive in the Cyprus affair - it has so much responsibility in the issue that the effort to get out of it with the least damage possible is understandable. What is surprising is the absence of explicit grievances about it. It has to be said that it's strange - the banks which apply non-market interest rates to their clients and get into debt in proportions that represent a multiple of their country's GDP, not to mention the perplexities on the origin of a large share of the Russian deposits. The silence - or nearly - on the responsibility of the banks is all the more surprising from MEPs, because it's largely thanks to them that the EU has approved (or is in the process of doing so) Community legislation that will finally impose strict financial standards. The application of the disciplines will be slow and gradual but it's largely thanks to the European Parliament that the disciplines exist as they do.
That we are concerned about the small Cypriot savers is normal. They should not be the victims of the bankers' manoeuvres, nor of the sometimes dubious nature of the deposits of Russian origin - but the responsibility of the banks should also be stressed. The eurozone finance ministers and the Troika have doubtless committed tactical mistakes - but it is understandable that they are concerned to defend Community resources in this period of general difficulty. It can be noted that yesterday's definitive solution largely corresponds to the first bailout plans of the Eurogroup, which were refused by Cyprus under the pressure of the banks.
Cyprus represents a presence for Russia in the Mediterranean. At first sight, Russia was only pursuing one objective in the Cypriot affair - not to pay a eurocent, while putting its point across that the island's difficulties are an internal EU affair. This is why Moscow rejected the compensation offered by Cyprus to the taxation of Russian deposits. In Moscow it was, moreover, stated that for the EU the bill was insignificant. According to one Russian newspaper, €17 billion to consolidate the Cypriot banks is peanuts for European finance.
The reality - from the political and strategic point of view - is very different. Cyprus represents a presence in the Mediterranean for Russia. In the past, this presence was more to the south via Georgia, but the context in that part of the world has become complicated and Russia's presence in Cyprus has become a priority. Currently, the situation on the ground is telling - around 40,000 Russians have set up home on the island and Russian has become the second language; Russian schools have opened and the Russian press is distributed; a few days ago a patriarch arrived from Moscow to inaugurate an Orthodox church.
This presence is officially affirmed. The commander of the Russian fleet, Admiral Viktor Chirkov, recently announced the training of a taskforce which will operate in the Mediterranean on a permanent basis. Cyprus is situated 70kilometres from Turkey and 100kilometres from Syria - Egypt and Israel are also close. And let's not mention the enormous gas fields around the island - the exploitation of which is already being discussed between Nicosia and Turkey, Israel, Egypt and other countries that are neighbours at a nearer or further distance.
(FR/transl.fl)