Euro Area

[Andres]

They invested in european football clubs and real estate, they provide the gas half of Europe needs to keep warm and they shelter our poor millionaires and ex-politicians who give them huge popularity by saying Putin is a perfect democrat. Additionally the are starting to do business with us in many other ways. The gas alone gives them quite a bit of leverage of course, they already turned it off for Ukraine and Poland not too long ago because these two didn't behave.

You don't see the distinction, do you?

Yes, they sell us gas and we need that gas. Just like they need us paying for that gas. Sure, they can threaten to put us without gas. They can even do it for a short while. But all in all, it's something they can use to put pressure on us. They have influence and they can pressure, but they don't have real decision making power here.

Compare that to what would happen if they pay for Cyprus' debts.

One of the elements of the deal on the table is a Russian harbour on Cyprus for their military fleet. That means Russian warships in our Mediterranean. And the Cypriotic government becoming a puppet of Moscow. And all natural Cypriotic resources become Russian. That's a whole different story than Russian investors having influence and the Russians selling us gas we need. So far, they didn't rule one of our member states. If they bail out Cyprus, they'll rule it. And we'll have their warships in our sea. And it gives a precedent for the Russians buying Greece. Doesn't all that make you feel uncomfortable?

Maybe because "we" don't have the tech and know-how to exploit such resources and make a profit, or maybe "we" are too concerned about the conflict with Turkey, our next member-to-be and current NATO ally. Besides, the Cypriots would probably blame us later for taking away their resources when they were down -> exploitation.

But "we" are good at making compromises. We can make a deal with Cyprus involving their gas. Tech and know-how we can obtain by investing. And the EU can make an acceptable compromise with Turkey, since we're not warmongerers. And we can guarantee the Russians that they won't lose their money.

The Russians will simply take the gas, put warships around it and show their middlefinger to us and Turkey, which will lead to a very explosive situation.

What Europe is better at is sucking up to everybody a little bit, manage to gain something out of it ourselves and keep the peace.

Instead, we came with the moronic "give us your savings".

Everybody responsible for that idea should get fired and never, ever allowed into a position of power anymore. Put capable people on the top, please. They're getting paid more than enough to be capable.

And since they never joined the Euro, noone can blame them.

You're missing the nuance InsaneApache is trying to make. There's the common people, the ordinary Cypriot who works his butt off and tries to save a little bit, just like you, me and most everybody in the EU. And then you have the elite, screwing us over. I don't know how it happened, but somehow down the line, somebody made you believe that the Cypriotic people, the ones who go to work every day for a meagre salary and try to save some money for the future, are guilty and need to pay the bill. You shouldn't let that happen. Your loyalty, my loyalty, our loyalty should be towards the Cypriotic people, not towards our politicians and bankers. As long as our leaders are able to divide us (the rich North against the poor South) and make us believe the common man in the street is to blame, they'll do whatever the hell they want with us, like taking away our savings just like that or like letting people starve, like in Greece.