Resistance in Cyprus Grows to Europe’s Bailout Plan (Buried In American News)

Resistance in Cyprus Grows to Europe’s Bailout Plan
Patrick Baz/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Cypriots held up their palms reading "No" during a protest against a bailout plan outside the Parliament in Nicosia on Monday.
By LIZ ALDERMAN
Published: March 18, 2013 243 Comments



NICOSIA, Cyprus — Leaders in Cyprus and Brussels scrambled Monday to contain the fallout from an unprecedented effort to force ordinary bank depositors in this crisis-hit nation to pay for part of an international bailout, as stock markets faltered on concerns about the wider implications for Europe’s long-running debt crisis.

President Nicos Anastasiades was trying to compel policy makers in Brussels to soften demands for a tax to be assessed on Cypriot bank deposits, saying European Union leaders used “blackmail” to get him to agree to those conditions early Saturday in order to receive a bailout package worth 10 billion euros, or $13 billion.

Cyprus, whose banking system is verging on collapse, is now the fifth nation in the 17-member euro union to seek financial assistance since the crisis broke out three years ago.

As anger in this country swelled against the measure, Mr. Anastasiades delayed an emergency parliamentary vote on the bailout plan until Tuesday, the second step in as many days. Faced with a lack of support from lawmakers, the vote could be delayed until as late as Friday.

The government also said it would keep Cypriot banks shuttered until at least Wednesday, beyond a bank holiday that was supposed to end Monday, a move aimed at staving off a possible bank run.

[link to www.nytimes.com]