PRESIDENT Nicos Anastasiades apparently felt betrayed by his associates because they were unprepared during a Eurogroup meeting last week that decided to impose a levy on bank deposits, the leader of the Church of Cyprus said yesterday.
In an interview with Greece’s Sky television, Archbishop Chrysostomos defended Anastasiades’ acceptance of the Eurogroup decision, saying there was not much he could have done under the circumstances.
“The president relied on finance ministry and Central Bank experts in Brussels, who unfortunately went there unprepared and they were threatened, they had no alternative solution and they accepted,” Chrysostomos said.
The archbishop suggested that the Anastasiades felt betrayed by his officials.
“The president did not want to put on a show, be populist,” he said. “If the president had not accepted everyone would applaud him upon his return to Cyprus. But, realising the responsibility he accepted the decision, which was not accepted by parliament.
It had been reported in the past week that Anastasiades had warned Cyprus’ EU partners that the decision would not be approved by parliament.
In a separate interview with Greece’s Real News, the church leader suggested that Cyprus should leave the euro.
“I am not saying it will collapse tomorrow, but with the brains they have in Brussels I am convinced that it will not go far and the best for us would be to find a way to escape,” he said.
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Archbishop: Anastasiades felt betrayed
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