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This is a quick translation from an article in Greek appearing at Defencenet.gr here
WHAT RUSSIA WANTS – EU REACTS
Even ready to leave the eurozone if Cyprus agreement with Russia is not accepted by Eurogroup
03/20/2013 – 16:44
Cyprus is ready to even get up and exit the Eurozone in the coming hours if Eurogroup and especially Germany does not accept the agreement with the Russian Federation on the recapitalization of banks that face a shortage of funds due to the Greek “haircut” for bond who sank the banking institutes of the island.
Information from Moscow is that Cyprus and Russia are close to an agreement (several issues are still pending, but the general framework has been agreed in principle), but the agreement must be approved by the Eurogroup to finish everything smoothly.
If the agreement is not approved for purely geostrategic reasons despite the fact that it meets the technical requirements, and the European Central Bank ceases funding, then as senior government official from Nicosia stated to defencenet.gr : “Cyprus is ready to leave the Eurozone since the eurozone will not want Cyprus. If we full fill the requirements for saving the banks but they [Eurogroup] do not accept the deal, [that is to say] if they want us to leave, then we will leave. Eurozone has a lot more to lose than Cyprus in this case “!
This particular officer is involved in Anastasiadis’ government but has strong patriotic reflexes and was a fierce opponent of the Eurogroup’s decision, one of those who “scared” president Anastasiadis with the potential of even a fall of the government in case he proceeded to confiscate a percentage of deposits.
But what is included in the agreement and why do they believe that Eurozone’s hard core eurozone will strongly react? : Because Russia will gain control of a critical point of the Eurasian region. And when it comes to control we do not only mean financial.
It was dropped at the table that (not as ignorant MSM reported) not the creation of a Russian naval base in Cyprus, but the existence of a legal framework for refuelling & supply the Russian Mediterranean squadron that would then have a permanent presence throughout the Mediterranean, not only in A. Mediterranean. Russia wants to play a role in North African countries and without a strong navy it can not do this. The Russian Air Force has no ” refuge” outside Russia across the region.
Moscow does not want to create a base in Cyprus like the one similar to that of Tartus or at least it does not want it now. She wants port and airport facilities. Eg wants the aircraft carrier “Admiral Kuznetsov” not floating around the Mediterranean without a point to “tie” and refuel. Or the aircraft of the Russian Navy and the Air Force can not land and stay for some time at the air base “Papandreou” which anyway is almost empty.
But if this comes into fruition, together with the naval base in Tartus, Syria, it would change the entire Mediterranean geostrategic status not only in the eastern Mediterranean.
Beyond a critical element in consideration is the construction and operation of natural gas terminal in Mari means that Gazprom acquires control of deposits of natural gas A.Mesogeiou of Cyprus!
This is where the previous loan agreement got stuck (2nd loan for the banking sector, not the first for the Fiscal loan) with Christofias’ Government, when Germany and France were adamantly negative on the subject.
At the time Russia withdrew (maybe this was a wrong strategy of Moscow) from the second loan to Cyprus. Then the Anastasiadis government came to power (Christofias in all his grave mistakes about the Cypriot economy at least he did not accept deposits seizure) and the evil was done.
As for the gas plots, Cyprus for the time being has frozen licensing the ones of interest to Gazprom, having “dropped” the Russian colossus in the first instance, whilst Israel ceded exclusively the Leviathan gas field to Gazprom. The acquiring of a specific Gas-plot is a condition of the agreement between Russia – Cyprus.
At this point and before the Russia-Cyprus agreement takes place, we will see US and, of-course, Turkey entering the game.
News section defencenet.gr
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