Iannis has blue eyes like the Venetians who colonised Cyprus in the 15th century, whereas his dark skin is reminiscent of later invasions. “What’s Europe?” he asks himself philosophically, while sitting at the bar drinking Greek coffee. “Do we have European passport? We don’t have a common European language, we have at least twenty of them. The only thing we share is the euro”.
Iannis rolls his eyes skywards: “You can’t unite people with a currency alone, it can only create an illusion”. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble has questioned how Cyprus was allowed into the euro in the first place, with an economy entirely based on tax breaks. A rhetorical question, which emphasises and highlights the weakness of the euro. Cyprus will remain in Europe, Laiki Bank will be shut down, the Bank of Cyprus will be placed under receivership and current accounts with deposits of more than 100 thousand euros will suffer 40% cuts. Before closing, Laiki Bank and the Bank of Cyprus wrote-off millions of euros of loans held by influential account holders: MPs of all parties, private companies and local administrators. A welcome gift, which explains the relationship between politics and finance in Cyprus.
Now president Nicos Anastasiades has proposed improving the island’s economy by opening lots of casinos. Transforming Cyprus from a tax haven to a paradise for illegal trafficking. It seems the old road is still the best. Johannes is also sitting at the bar, drinking a black filter coffee, like they do in Germany. Like Iannis, he too is puzzled about the concept of Europe: “I’ve got a German passport, I live in Germany and I don’t understand why we’ve now got to help Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy. If they’ve made mistakes, they should pay for them. What’s it got to do with me?”. In virtuous Germany, the Bundesbank is investigating Deutsche Bank for hiding losses of millions of euros when the value of its derivative investments collapsed. A story that creates more of a connection between Johannes and Iannis, but a fundamental difference remains: Johannes lives in a country where unemployment is under 5% while Iannis has no future. “I’ll go to Germany or Britain…”, he says, with determination. In the end, the young Cypriot has found an identity for Europe; Johannes hasn’t.
In various EU countries, there is growing support for right- and left-wing parties fed by rage, fear and disappointment. They want to erect barriers.Let’s hope that once in Germany, Iannis doesn’t meet Johannes waving anationalist flag.
Iannis has blue eyes like the Venetians who colonised Cyprus in the 15th century, whereas his dark skin is reminiscent of later invasions. “What’s Europe?” he asks himself philosophically, while sitting at the bar drinking Greek coffee. “Do we have European passport? We don’t have a common European language, we have at least twenty of them. The only thing we share is the euro”.
