International media and the Cyprus Financial Crisis

The quotation below is translated into English from a posting to his Facebook profile by leading Cypriot journalist Costas Yennaris, highlighting the extent to which the international media coverage of the Cyprus Financial Crisis for the last 2 weeks fails to understand the ACTUAL motives behind the "Troika" victimisation of our tiny island and its economy.

"Speaking with foreign journalists I have come to understand that they DO NOT  understand the reasons for our [Cypriot] reactions to the 'Troika' and to Germany.
"They interpret everything from an exclusively economic perspective and they do not understand the other factors which we refer to and which are important to us.

"What does this mean?

 "It means that we keep feeling sorry for ourselves and we do not concern ourselves with creating conditions which could lead to active support so that we could emerge from the bottleneck. We are busy seeking the pity of the foreigners rather than seeking their solidarity based on a common understanding of what Germany is imposing on the EU. 

"It means that even today we do not realise that we must organise and plan our struggle much more seriously and convincingly, starting from an effective communication strategy aimed at achieving specific strategic aims. This is what we should be talking about MORE than ANYTHING  else."

 The original posting:

"Mιλώντας με ξένους δημσοιογράφους διαπιστώνω ότι ΔΕΝ ααντιλαμβάνονται πλήρως τους λόγους της αντίδρασης μας στην τρόικα και στη Γερμανία. Ερμηνεύουν τα πάντα αποκλειστικά με οικονομικές αναφορές και δεν αντιλαμβάνονται τις άλλες παραμέτρους που επικαλούμαστε και στις οποίες αποδίδουμε σημασία.

"Αυτό, τι σημαίνει;"

"Σημαίνει πως περιοριζόμαστε στο να κλαψουρίζουμε και να κλαίμε την μοίρα μας και δεν ασχολούμαστε με την δημιουργία συνθηκών και προϋποθέσεων που θα οδηγήσουν σε εμπρακτη συμπαράσταση για να βγούμε από τη στενωπό. Σημαίνει ότι επιδιώκουμε περισσότερο τον οίκτο των ξένων παρά ρην αλληλεγγύη τους που να στηρίζεται σε κοινή αντίληψη της πορείας που επιβάλλει στην ΕΕ η Γερμανία. 

"Σημαίνει ότι ακόμα και σήμερα δεν έχουμε αντιληφθεί ότι καλά είναι όλα αυτά, αλλά θα πρέπει να οργανώσουμε και να σχεδιάσουμε τον αγώνα μας πολύ πιο σοβαρά και πειστικά, ξεκινώντας από μια σωστή επικοινωνιακή πολιτική που να υπηρετεί συγκεκριμένους στρατηγικούς στόχους. Αυτά πρέπει να κουβεντιάζουμε ΠΑΝΩ ΑπΟ ΟΛΑ." 

Some of the points which SHOULD be understood are actually contained in 2 recent articles written by non-Cypriot dignitaries who have been kind enough to explain what is actually happening, published in the Cyprus Mail newspaper:

"The problem is not Cyprus, it’s the euro"
03.04.2013 Written by Lars Seir Christenser as co-founder & CEO of Saxo Bank A/S
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxo_Bank] 
http://www.cyprus-mail.com/opinions/problem-not-cyprus-it-s-euro/20130403

Extract:

"It is astonishing that a €10 billion bailout can keep the world spellbound for so long. But then again, while the amount is not staggering, some of the implications are mind-blowing.

"That a small economy can be destroyed over a weekend is in itself very scary. But Cyprus's fate was basically sealed when the troika revealed its first version of the bailout package. That the final outcome turned out to become even worse should not surprise anyone following the Euro zone's past efforts at saving its project."

"In defence of Cyprus"
02.04.2013 Written by Miguel Angel Moratinos, the former Spanish minister of foreign affairs.
http://www.cyprus-mail.com/opinions/defence-cyprus/20130402


Extracts:

"I will not try to analyse this mess organised by the European heads which aims to 'rescue' Cyprus, for that deserves a specific article on its own. What I am pursuing is the underlying reasons which have led to this growing and negative attitude of Europeans towards Greek Cypriots."

"Cyprus was a model country and swiftly reached the social, institutional, economic, financial and security requirements which Europe demanded [in becoming a member of the EU]. The nowadays-demeaned Cypriot banking system was, only five years ago, a European and international reference point. Not only the Greek banks but many other financial entities, including British and German, knew and took advantage of the Cypriot platform. 

"I am scandalised by hearing now how these same banks despise the Cypriot ones because of the deposits of Russian companies and citizens. One should ask whether the arrival of capital from Russia - denounced in Cyprus - didn’t happen in Germany and the United Kingdom too. 

"When those voices critical against Cyprus speak out, European public opinion has to be reminded that this country, with fewer than one million inhabitants, has got a GDP per capita of €21,500, the 31st position in the Human Development Index ... and hydrocarbons which could make up the third greatest reserve in the world. 

"The Ecofin ministers have ignored the national and international realities, as well as geopolitical and strategic views on Cyprus. They have not pondered the Russian Federation influence, a key country in the UN Security Council, when discussing the Cypriot issue. 

[my own note: without whose Russian support in the UN Security Council the Republic of Cyprus would probably not have survived the machinations of the Kofi Annan Plan of 2002 - 2004, nor the Verheugen tirades against Cyprus within the EU].  

"Cyprus has got great potential and not only in tourism. Its hydrocarbon deposits have probably caused a bigger unbalance in the mechanisms of power relations and influence inside and outside the EU. The question to be suggested today is whether the Cypriot deposits will be European, Russian, Turkish, Lebanese or Israeli, but that is a different discussion to be faced by European politics.
"The geopolitical focus will be despised and the pseudo technocratic one adopted. 

 "Meanwhile, Greek Cypriot society will undergo disproportionate and unfair suffering. And because of all that, all my solidarity and support goes out to Cyprus."

Extract from a Russia Today interview 01.04.2013 with former Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel (appears not to have been uploaded to RT on YouTube)

The Economist:  "Bailing out Cyprus was always going to be tricky. But it didn’t have to be like this - Mar 23rd 2013" 

"The euro was supposed to be the manifestation of a grand political project. It feels more like a loveless marriage, in which the cost of breaking up is the only thing keeping the partners together."