Does the Troika undermine sovereignty?

The first experiment is Greece. Cyprus is about to become the second. Wherever the Troika has gone it has left nothing less than a trail of ashes behind them and a whole nation blaming them for the harsh measures their governments are forced to implement. A recent article in Spiegel states that the Cypriot government has taken up measures which will make the current recession last at least 2 more years.

Yet, the most important aspect of this story is that the Troika is actually trying to undermine sovereignty in the small island. Cyprus is expected to have a major source of income from gas deposits discovered in the area. Although the first income from the exploitation of these natural resources is not expected to come until the next 5 years, the Troikans have specifically requested that they should have the first say to what the Cypriots will do with the money; a request that the Cyprus government has so far rejected. In addition, the Troika has asked for the yearly budget to be presented to them first and then, if they approve it, it should move for a parliamentary approval; which reminds me of what they are doing with Greece. The idea is the same as the preposterous initiative to have a Commisioner veto national budgets, discussed in depth by Protesilaos here.

The problem is not that they are merely trying to control these issues for a specific period of time. It appears that a new, technocratic system is eager to impose itself in the world. A system which will be based on the knowledge that people with PhD's have obtained in the course of their studies. A system which always put quantity over quality. A system which would tolerate irregularities or breaches of regulations just for higher profits. (for a small sample of what I mean have a look at this article: a Ryanair pilot dropped the plane so rapidly that he had to lift it up again so it wouldn't hit the ground. What is most frustrating is that none of the passengers complained.)

It appears that people are becoming more and more passive (fortunately with some notable exceptions) and that the leaders are slowly shaping the world, and especially the EU, as they would wish. In another article by Protesilaos Stavrou, an important comment may be found (commenting on the "blueprint for a deep and genuine economic and monetary union" found here): 

"... will realize that a sovereign state with an independent budget and with powers to tax and to force elected governments and entire peoples into specific forms of action, or to place them in various straitjackets, is already being contemplated. In this new ideological type of "integration", genuine democracy is secondary in importance, if it can be considered important at all, for the technocratic elite of Europe already agrees that such democratic 'complications' will be discussed over the longer-term, long after all important fiscal, banking and economic powers have been forever withdrawn from elected governments and centralized at the Euro-area level. As a matter of fact the Commission's blueprint envisages "discussions" for some fig leaf of democracy after 5 years from now and once all the technocratic aspects of the Euro-state have been set in place and become fully functional." 

I can safely say for myself that I am not against solidarity in Europe. On the contrary I am a huge supporter of the issue. Nevertheless, integration and solidarity should occur without forcing the participating nation to comply with what the EU elite has designated. The EU motto is "United in Diversity" and not just "United". Although a banking union is an excellent idea, removing almost any power a national government has is not. 

What nationalism with Hitler and Mussolini did 80 years ago technocracy is trying to do now: nations which are dissatisfied with their current leaders, governments and politicians are given the "opportunity" to allow foreigners to run things for them; what is essentially happening in Greece and Cyprus at the moment. Nationalists told the citizens of their country that they would be a better alternative. All they had to do was give them the power to do as they pleased; the technocrats are merely trying to remove that power and tell us that we should not have to assume any responsibilities as they will take care of things for us. And as the Greek experiment has shown, the short-term and medium-term consequences of their actions are horrendous. One can only wait and see how long the supposed long-term benefits will take.

I have stated it before and I will state this again: I am not a conspiracy theorist. Nevertheless, what has been presented in this article are not mere figments of my imagination. They are presented in official EU blueprints and in almost every media source in the world as what the Troika demands from sovereign nations in order to assist them.

We are indeed at the crossroads of history. Either nations will revolt and demand greater democracy and less external manipulation or they will do nothing and end up in a much worse place than we are now. This is not the case for merely Cyprus and Greece. It has to start from somewhere and the crisis has given this opportunity. If we let is flourish then almost nothing can stop it.

Martin Niemöller, originally a Nazist and then a concentration camp prisoner, wrote the following on the inactivity of the German intellectuals during the first years of Hitler's chancellorship:

First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the socialists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me.