German lawmakers from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition criticized the handling of Cyprus bailout proposals before the parliament in Nicosia began to debate them, deepening a standoff days before the deadline for a cut in ECB funding.
Merkel told a closed-door meeting of legislators in Berlin today that she’s annoyed the Cypriot government hasn’t been in touch with the so-called troika of international creditors for days, according to a party official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the briefing was private. Cyprus’s decision to test Europe is unacceptable, she told them.
“We’re not ready to accept solutions that are full of wind,” Michael Fuchs, deputy parliamentary leader of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, said after the meeting. “I don’t think it’s appropriate to play poker in this matter, especially when you think that there’s a risk that two banks will become insolvent next Monday.”
European patience with Cyprus is running out as Cypriot lawmakers consider proposals to unlock bailout funds and prevent a financial collapse. They rejected a proposal to tax bank deposits hammered out last weekend by the 17 euro-area finance ministers. The European Central Bank, which makes up the troika along with the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission, issued an end-March 25 deadline for a deal before it cuts off emergency funding to the nation’s lenders.
