Jim Armitage: Cyprus - an unloved member of the eurozone

Global Outlook

If large numbers of Cypriots seem to loathe the Eurocrats, I'm told the feeling's fairly mutual.

Certain quarters of the EU brigade are particularly irritated at the way Cyprus regularly thwarts attempts to bring Turkey closer into the fold. Its closeness to Russia and tax haven status also irks many.

It's been said that Cyprus was only admitted into the EU at all in 2002 after Greece threatened to veto the whole enlargement project.

A Brussels contact tells me that Cyprus is known widely in the corridors of EU power as the Trojan Donkey. I'm not entirely sure what that metaphor means, but it doesn't sound particularly flattering, does it?