A wake-up call (EN)

The shocking decision to impose a 'tax' on bank depositors in Cyprus will only reveal its full consequences in the coming days and weeks. The signs so far are ominous; bank runs and social unrest in the coming period cannot be ruled out.

But whatever happens, one thing is already clear: that the North/South, Centre/Periphery cleavage in the Eurozone and in the EU at large has become irreversible, a point of no return has been reached. It is no longer taboo to force periphery governments to bypass democracy, break their promises and even their countries' law, if the powerful creditors so desire. The existence of second-class countries in the EU, for long an unspoken reality, has been officially formalised. And, with it, the end of the EU as we once knew it.

Incidentally, the measure may be as stupid as it is abusive. But even if it works, by some miracle and against the evidence of EU-imposed policies so far in its Southern rim, the harm of breaking the promise of a united Europe made of equal citizens is already done.

Out of a sense of historical justice, I would be tempted to wish that countries who are now forcing Cyprus into this legalised theft of its citizens' savings would one day live through such an experience themselves. But no, this would be wrong in any circumstance, and two wrongs don't make a right. I don't wish any citizen of any country to face a situation of being robbed outright by his or her own government. As one who lived under a totalitarian regime, I know well the feeling of frustration and disempowerment that such arbitrariness can bring, and how big a blow it can be to citizenship and basic human dignity.

For Romania, a periphery country itself and chronically treated as second-class within the EU - largely due to a corrupt, self-interested political class - this should be a last-chance wake-up call.

"It's like Bishkek" (EN)

As I was incredulously watching the scenes of urban chaos yesterday in Athens, a Greek friend was live chatting: "it's like Bishkek". Indeed, the type of challenge increasingly faced by some Western countries (now Greece; earlier Iceland; soon maybe Spain, Portugal, Italy and the UK) at times - but not always - appears to unveil a kind of political and institutional fragility that makes them more vulnerable than commonly assumed - and perhaps as vulnerable as much less settled places. Which means that the challenge is probably of a different nature altogether than those faced during the normal transition/convergence processes that had been the dominant governance paradigm until the crisis hit.

The basic social contract that underpins representative democracy is now directly questioned in some countries, in relation to the poor state performance - in policy, institutional arrangements, integrity - and poor outcomes of state action. The legitimacy of financial policy decisions being made - in a traditionally non-transparent way - is directly contested. The typical IMF fix suddenly looks not so easily feasible.

A new social contract and a renewed politics (as well as new political elites) may be the silver lining of this crisis, if radical enough changes can be managed within the system; but a more somber scenario - of state failure in the heart of Europe - is also imaginable in the contrary case. The resilience of political frameworks is being put at test. In Greece, the popular perception of generalized political corruption with impunity is what fuels the revolt at least as much as economic hardship; people are just not willing to accept more sacrifices unless they see some politicians pay for the mess that they helped create.

We may be witnessing the beginning of a series of events that could durably affect governance patterns.