«People with less than 100,000 euros in Cypriot bank accounts will have to pay a one-time tax of 6.75%, while those with more will have to pay 9.9%.» [1]
One must be really insane, delirium tremens way, in order just to start fantasizing about expropriating deposits on a national scale, non-nationals included. For there is no surest way of depriving a given country of foreign direct investments and government legitimacy for years ahead.
Borderline suicidal, that is.
«»There is a general political sentiment that it is not acceptable to be bailing out a country, and thereby putting European taxpayers’ money at risk, to basically protect Russian depositors in Cypriot banks,» he said.» [1]
«There are concerns around Europe about whether all that money was legitimately acquired and also about how effective Cyprus is in dealing with money laundering.» [1]
«The EU decision to impose a levy on bank deposits may have been motivated by a belief that a lot of the money in Cypriot banks belongs to Russian money-launderers, BBC business editor Robert Peston says.» [2]
Grand fucking Prix. Applaudissement s’il vous plait! Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, adapted to real life, goes to the government of Cyprus.
Must feel good, huh? Why don’t we rob those oil-drunk sick-rich Russians since they are all undemocratic delinquent money launderers anyway.
Feeling good, like Robin Hood. Robbin’ bad for good.
Robbing Good, that is.
Irony is not lost, reputation is.
[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-2179
[2] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-eur