As the banking crisis enters its third day, with no end in sight, the former chairman of the Cyprus Central Bank and member of the board of the ECB, Ethanias Orphanides, accused northern European governments of blackmail and prognosticated the slow death of the EU as a result.
Source: Bloomberg Surviellance
Meanwhile the Cyprus parliament is about to vote on the watered down package which would protect deposits of less than 20,000 Euros. Some reports suggest that a majority is holding out for a threshold of 100,000 Euros while Russian elements, including the Russian government and oil giant, Gazprom, manouvre for positions in military bases and controlling interests in Laiki Marfin bank.