Cyprus crisis: Europe plays hardball

... losing the trust of tens of billions that would flee, ruin the economy of the European Union and the eurozone, just to spite several thousand Russians, Brits, and Russian companies with state connections. So, let me repeat, the whole affair is not about Russia. If my guess is right and what we are seeing is a deliberate trashing of the bankrupt Cyprus banking system (or the economy as a whole) then what is the big idea? I would hazard a guess that this has been done to set an example — that is relatively painless for the whole of Europe, but catastrophic for Cypriots — of what is in store ...