Piraeus Bank blocked the accounts of Russian citizens

Early on the morning of Monday 28 February 2022, the Bank of Greece sent a signal to all banks calling for the implementation of the European Community directive to block investments (deposits, bonds, etc.) Central Bank of Russia.

According to sources cited by the financial site Euro2day.gr, from early morning the banks received a call to check the direct investment risks of the Central Bank of Russia in the Greek market, as well as possible association of individuals with these investments.

The same sources reported that there was no order to freeze the deposits of Russian citizens in Greece, except for those persons (the so-called Putin’s oligarchs) who appear on the official sanctions lists, has not been reported. Also on Feb. 28, Greek banks found, responding directly to a signal from the central bank, that there had been no such outflow related to their cash.

Many Russian immigrants live in Greece, fully integrated into Greek society, work here for years, contribute to the country’s GDP and, of course, receive their salaries through the Greek banking system. The accounts of these people can in no way be considered “accounts of the oligarchs”, and the sums that may be on them cannot be considered “investment risks“. The deposits of Russian oligarchs (at least explicit ones), according to Swiss banks, are mainly in this country and are estimated at $ 213 billion, according to financial post on March 17th. Of course, like the rest of the world, we do not know their exact amount and, moreover, the intentions of the Swiss banks in relation to these funds. But that’s not our problem. Our topic is the deposits of ordinary people, workers in Greece and their income, which is their means of survival and is controlled by Greek banks. Especially those who today are not lucky enough to be in the power (and this is not an exaggeration) of Piraeus Bank.

However, on the siteAgonas tis Kritis”, in a publication dated March 18, we read that “According to a complaint to our newspaper, a Russian citizen who has lived in Greece for 20 years, married to a Greek man and has three children, found that her account was blocked.

The bank told her that the reason blocking is that she has Russian citizenship, and the bank has put into effect EU Regulation 2022/328 “on restrictive measures in connection with the actions of Russia, which destabilize the situation in Ukraine.” However, the freezing provision accounts of Russian citizensliving in Greeceis not included in the resolution. The law concerns a “list of oligarchs” and actual deposits of more than 100,000 euros.

In addition to this complaint, the editorial office received letters from other readers, and all of them concern Piraeus Bank. The same bank that advertises the provision of benefits to Ukrainian citizens living in Greece. And we ask ourselves: since when have migrant workers living and working in Greece, and if you like, even those permanently resident in the country, been treated differently according to their country of origin? Since when have the interests of the economic oligarchy (of Russian, Greek, German or any other origin) been identified with the real struggle for the survival of the people? What is this “collective responsibility” of one or several, perhaps, banks?

The situation is serious and extremely undemocratic, to the point of inhumanity. The immediate unblocking of the accounts of working Russian citizens living in Greece is a matter of survival for them personally and their families.

The saddest thing is These sanctions will not cause significant harm to the “oligarchs”because in a world where the rule “Money is everything”, such people will never be left without their bread, spread with a thick layer of black caviar.

The logic of “collective responsibility”, which was started to be applied in Greece on the occasion of the Russian-Ukrainian war, has nothing to do with democracy and refers to to fascist regimes.

“Collective responsibility” or “collective guilt” is the imposition of punishment on the whole people as a way of maintaining discipline.

The idea of ​​”collective guilt” recognizes that each person belonging to a certain group of people is equally guilty of the behavior of some other members of the group, even if they have nothing to do with what is happening. During the Great Patriotic War, German troops in the occupied territories of the USSR (as well as in other occupied countries, for example, Poland) practiced mass terror everywhere in response to the actions of partisans and underground fighters, to the killing of military personnel and / or employees of the occupation administration. This practice was not only not stopped, but was directly sanctioned by the German command.

Geneva Convention 1949 banned reprisals directed against civilians. Did the leaders of the Piraeus bank decide to violate this convention? Do they understand their responsibility?

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