Greeks are deeply stunned and green from envy, to hear the debate inside the Cypriot Parliament during the crucial voting on bank deposits tax

Outside parliament equally angry crowds called for a „No“ vote and held up signs warning that other financially crippled European nations like Italy and Spain could be next.

The House plenary has rejected a draft bill on Cyprus` bailout agreement that provides for an unprecedented levy to be imposed on savings in Cyprus banks (haircut) with 36 votes against and 19 abstentions.

Nimmt man die Aussage Jean Claude Junckers, welcher sagte „Wir beschließen etwas, stellen dies in den Raum und warten einige Zeit ab, was passiert“, dann passt das genau in das aktuelle Szenario rund um und in Zypern.

“The 5 Star people that voted for Grasso as opposed to Schifani, knew all too well who Schifani is and they chose the least worst, that is Grasso. But they didn’t have the foggiest idea of who Grasso is, and that is a big problem. Especially for those that say they get their information from the Internet so as to escape the regime propaganda. If they had truly read up on this, they would have discovered that the Schifani-Grasso dualism was fictitious. Schifani has always been pleasing to the PD, and in fact, 5 years ago they didn’t put up a candidate to stand against him, they consigned blank ballot papers in the election and they sent Ms Finocchiaro to give him a kiss on the cheek.“

Greek prime minister Antonis Samaras cancelled his official visit to Finland, scheduled for March 22-24rd 2013. No official explanation was given.

Dies erklärte der Präsident der Euro-Gruppe Jeroen Dijsselbloem am Montag.

Osborne insists Brit forces hit by bank bailout to get ‚every penny‘ back
Chancellor intervenes to overrule Ministry of Defence to protect troops
Tax grab would charge 6.75% on all deposits under £86k and 9.9% over that
In exchange Cyprus receives £8.6bn in rescue money from EU, IMF, ECB
Ministers expected to propose counter deal to save small savers more
Brits expats to have pension payments frozen to avoid the tax, says minister

The government, under its new conservative leader, Nicos Anastasiades, maintains that Cyprus has no choice but to accept the bailout with the levy, or go bankrupt. But the 56-member parliament, scheduled to meet at 6pm on Tuesday, is still expected to vote no.

Zimbabweans have approved a new constitution that curbs the powers of the president and puts the turbulent southern African country a step closer to holding full elections in the next few months, the election commission said on Tuesday.

Cyprus’s Parliament is likely to reject an international bailout package that involves taxing ordinary depositors to pay part of the bill, President Nicos Anastasiades said Tuesday, despite a revision that would remove some objections by exempting small bank accounts from the levies.

“The very nature of banking has been shaken to its roots with this decision, for banking depends upon trust,” Dennis Gartman, the investor, wrote in a note to his clients. “Trust that has now been shattered; torn asunder, broken … destroyed.”

Es ist ein ungleicher Kampf. Wir werden täglich mit dem Begriff Wachstum oder stellvertretend mit „Zielvereinbarung“ konfrontiert. Diese Konditionierung darauf, dass es immer höher geht, es also keine Grenzen gibt steht im Widerspruch zur Wirklichkeit.

Lew nevertheless called for monitoring of the situation in order to avoid another crisis like the 2008 Wall Street crash that led to the Great Recession.

Dies sagte Staatspräsident Xi Jinping bei einem Treffen mit US-Finanzminister Jacob Lew am Dienstag in Beijing.

The proposal is “entirely immoral, unreasonable, and is ultimately a potential tipping point for the entire euro zone between safety and panic”, Young told RT. “The question every single Cypriots saver is asking today is why do they have to pay and why do bond holders not have to pay?”

„The levy on deposits below 100,000 euros was not the creation of the German government,“ Schaeuble told reporters in Berlin. „If one reached another solution we would not have the slightest problem.“

Chancellor Merkel said that making the depositors help pay for the bailout is the right thing to do. „That way,“ she said, „those responsible will contribute in it, not only the taxpayers of other countries.“

I have $12.75 in the bank in Alexandria, Virginia. How does that make me responsible for creating the national debt?

This is yet another euro bailout that punishes ordinary people to prop up a bust financial system. How long can the euro last now?

Dies entspreche nicht nur dem grundsätzlichen Interesse, sondern sei auch vorteilhaft für die Förderung der globalen Wirtschaftsbelebung, betonte Hong weiter.

Im Fall Zypern steht erstmals ein Rettungsbeschluss des Bundestags ernsthaft infrage, weil SPD und Grüne sich verweigern könnten. Beide haben eine Beteiligung des Bankensektors zu einer Voraussetzung für ihre Zustimmung gemacht.

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Nach dem syrischen Luftangriff auf Grenzgebiete hat Libanon einen Protest an Damaskus gerichtet. Das syrische Bombardement sei eine „unannehmbare Verletzung der Souveränität des Libanon“, sagte Präsident Michel Suleiman.

Industrial production in recession-hit Italy fell 3.6% in January compared to the same month in 2012 according to seasonally adjusted data, Istat said on Tuesday.

Now we’ve got another two positions: the President of the Council and the President of the Republic, both fundamental for Italy’s future. The President of the Republic in fact, stays in power for seven years (a period that stretches across more than one parliamentary term) and he has the powers of a monarch.
The PDL’s candidate and the one suppported by a part (a big part?) of the PDminusL is Massimo D‘Alema. That’s not official, or even unofficial, but it’s very plausible. Don’t you believe that? Even I didn’t believe it. Super Maxipowers for D‘Alema?

„Zu hartnäckig haben die EU-Offiziellen in den letzten Monaten wiederholt, Zypern sei eine große russische Geldwäsche-Anlage. Die europäische Presse hat diese Meinung fleißig weiter verbreitet. Hunderte von Medien haben einen Enthüllungsbericht des deutschen Nachrichtendienstes über das russische Geld auf Zypern veröffentlicht.“

This is how the French- British-US Operation ‚Odyssey Dawn‘ started on March 19 two years ago.

March 19 is the tenth anniversary of invasion of Iraq by the United States, Britain and their allies.

The Athens Stock Exchange temporarily suspended on Tuesday trading in the shares of Bank of Cyprus and Cyprus Popular Bank

According to Mega TV, Anastasiades is reported to have said to Rehn and Brok: “When I warned you that there would not be a parliamentary majority to pass the agreement, you didn’t want to listen. Give my regards to Mrs Merkel.”

(18.03.) Anastasiades is also reported to have spoken to German MEP Elmar Brok, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel‘s CDU party who is close to the German leader. According to Mega TV, Anastasiades is reported to have said to Rehn and Brok: ‚When I warned you that there would not be a parliamentary majority to pass the agreement, you didn‘t want to listen. Give my regards to Mrs Merkel.‘

„Als ich sie vorgewarnt hatte, dass es im Parlament keine Mehrheit gibt, die die Vereinbarung billigen wird, hatten Sie mir kein Gehör geschenkt. Lassen Sie Frau Merkel grüßen“, wird Anastasiades vom Fernsehsender zitiert.

Die Euro-Finanzminister haben sich Montagnacht bereiterklärt, Ausnahmen von der Zwangsabgabe für Kleinsparer zu akzeptieren (Die Erklärung der Minister als PDF).
Die Banken in Zypern bleiben bis Donnerstagmorgen geschlossen.

„It looks like it won‘t pass,“ Cypriot government spokesman Christos Stylianides told state radio.

Die Zyprioten stellen zähneknirschend fest, dass nicht sie, sondern der Staat bzw. Brüssel Herr über ihr Vermögen ist. Diese Enteignung zeigt deutlich, dass in der EU nicht nur Privatvermögen mit einem Handstreich gestohlen werden kann. Auch die indirekten Besitztümer der Bevölkerung wie Energieversorgung und Infrastruktur werden zu ihren Lasten verschachert. Wer glaubt, dies betreffe nur Südeuropa, der singt dieses Lied der Schulden nicht zu Ende.

Last week we wrote about the important news that Mexico is asking to join what began as a bilateral trade agreement between the US and Europe, with the suggestion that Canada might follow suit. Now, via @FFII, we learn that even before Mexico‘s announcement, the US has been encouraging other countries to join:

In the island nation of Cyprus, protesters are urging their parliament to say “no“ to a tax on bank accounts that would satisfy terms of a euro zone bailout. Deborah Gembara reports