普京拉攏塞浦路斯 欲破歐盟制裁

NICOSIA, Cyprus — When Cyprus seized hundreds of millions of dollars from bank depositors, many of them Russians, as part of an internationally brokered deal two years ago to rescue its collapsing financial system, the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, denounced the move as “dangerous” and “unfair,” warning of a sharp chill in relations.

塞浦路斯尼科西亞——當塞浦路斯爲履行兩年前在國際社會的干預下所達成的協議，大舉沒收銀行儲戶——其中許多是俄羅斯人——的存款時，俄羅斯領導人弗拉基米爾·普京(Vladimir Putin)譴責此舉“危險”而“不公平”，並警告稱兩國關係可能會急劇降溫。前述協議的目的在於拯救塞浦路斯瀕臨崩潰的金融體系。

But Putin was all smiles recently when he received Cyprus' president, Nicos Anastasiades, in Moscow, hailing relations with the Mediterranean nation as “always being truly friendly and mutually beneficial” and agreeing to extend — on greatly improved terms for Cyprus — a $2.5 billion Russian loan.

然而，當普京最近在莫斯科接待塞浦路斯總統尼科斯·阿納斯塔夏季斯(Nicos Anastasiades)時，他卻笑容滿面，稱讚俄羅斯與地中海國家的關係“一向真正友好互利”，並同意延長一筆價值25億歐元（約合168億元人民幣）的俄羅斯貸款——修改後的借貸條款大大有利於塞浦路斯。

The shift from fury to declarations of eternal friendship displayed Putin's well-known flair for tactical back flips. But it also showed his unbending determination to break out of sanctions imposed on Russia by the U.S. and the European Union for Moscow's annexation of Crimea and support for armed rebels in eastern Ukraine.

由憤怒到宣佈永恆友誼的轉變，表現了普京著名的後空翻技巧。但這也表明，他誓要打破美國和歐盟(European Union)因莫斯科吞併克里米亞和支持烏克蘭東部武裝分裂分子而對俄羅斯實施制裁。

Putin has methodically targeted, through charm and cash and by fanning historical and ideological embers, the EU's weakest links in a campaign to assert influence in some of Europe's most troubled corners. One clear goal is to break fragile Western unity over the conflict in Ukraine.

藉助魅力和金錢，以及歷史和意識形態的餘燼，普京有計劃地把目標對準了歐盟最薄弱的環節，以期鞏固它對歐洲一些最動盪不安的角落的影響力。其中一個明確目標，就是打破西方國家在烏克蘭衝突方面的脆弱聯盟。

On Wednesday, Greece's new left-wing prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, is the next to visit Moscow. Before the trip, Tsipras declared himself opposed to sanctions on Russia, describing them as a “dead-end policy.”

週三，希臘的新左翼首相阿萊克斯·齊普拉斯(Alexis Tsipras)也將訪問莫斯科。出行前，齊普拉斯宣稱自己反對制裁俄羅斯，稱這些制裁措施爲“沒有出路的政策”。

On Sunday, Putin's efforts to peel away supporters from the EU opened a new rift, after the U.S. ambassador in Prague criticized a decision by the Czech president, Milos Zeman, to attend a military parade in Moscow on May 9. And in February, Putin visited Hungary, the EU's autocratic backslider, peddling economic deals.

週日，普京離間歐盟支持者的行動製造了一道新的裂痕；此前，捷克總統米洛什·澤曼(Milos Zeman)參加莫斯科在5月9日的一次閱兵式的決定，遭到美國駐布拉格大使的指責。2月，普京訪問了正在倒退到獨裁統治的歐盟國家匈牙利，兜售其經濟協議。

Russia has so far been unable to turn such hand-holding into something more concrete against sanctions that require the approval of all 28 EU members. But pressure for a rupture is building.

目前，俄羅斯還無法把這種牽手變成更具體的、需要28個歐盟國家全體批准的反制裁措施。但是關係破裂的壓力正變得越來越大。

Speaking in an interview last week here in Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus, Anastasiades said Cyprus had grave doubts about Europe's policy toward Russia and was part of a “group of member states who have the same reservations.”

上週，阿納斯塔夏季斯在塞浦路斯尼科西亞接受採訪時說，塞浦路斯嚴重質疑歐盟對俄羅斯的政策，並且表示它只是“持有相同保留意見的多個成員國”之一。

He ruled out breaking ranks with what for the moment remains a consensus in favor of keeping up economic pressure on Russia. But he said he expected a unanimous vote in favor of lifting sanctions when they come up for review this summer.

目前，對俄羅斯保持經濟壓力仍然是一種共識，他表示不會推翻這種做法。不過他說，等到制裁條款在今夏接受審覈時，他希望人們會一致投票支持解除制裁。

He said he was convinced that Putin “realizes the consequences of further military involvement” in Ukraine and “means business” in putting in place a cease-fire agreement reached in February.

他說，他確信普京“意識到了在軍事上進一步干預”烏克蘭事件的“後果”，而且對於將2月達成的停火協議實施到位持“認真態度”。

The cracks opening up in Europe's policy toward Russia have presented a difficult problem for Donald Tusk, the former prime minister of Poland who is now president of the European Council, a body in Brussels that represents the EU's 28 leaders.

對於波蘭前總理、歐洲理事會(European Council)現任主席唐納德·圖斯克(Donald Tusk)而言，歐洲在俄羅斯政策上出現的裂縫是一個難題。歐洲理事會是設在布魯塞爾的一個機構，代表着歐盟的28位領導人。

“To keep Europe united is today the biggest challenge,” Tusk said last month, referring to “the very fragile and difficult consensus” reached by European countries after Moscow seized Crimea in March last year.

去年3月，在莫斯科吞併克里米亞之後，歐洲國家達成了“非常脆弱而艱難的一致意見”，圖斯克上個月在提到這個一致意見時說，“如今，要保持歐洲的團結是最大的挑戰。”

Moscow's skill at prying open fissures in European unity has been on display in Cyprus, a tiny nation that, because of its tight historical, religious and economic ties with Russia, has taken on an oversize role as a pivotal player in the geopolitical struggle set off by the conflict in Ukraine.

莫斯科爲歐洲團結製造裂痕的能力在塞浦路斯顯露無疑。塞浦路斯是一個小國，由於在歷史、宗教和經濟上與俄羅斯關係緊密，該國作爲烏克蘭衝突引發的地緣政治鬥爭中的一個核心參與者，扮演了極其重要的角色。

Tugged in different directions by outside powers, Cyprus hosts British military bases and vast eavesdropping facilities, allows the U.S. Navy to use its ports and has been a member of the EU since 2004.

其他國家一直在把塞浦路斯往不同方向上拉扯。英國在這裏設有軍事基地和大量竊聽設施，美國海軍可以利用該國的港口，此外，塞浦路斯自2004年以來一直是歐盟成員國。

Yet it still looks to Russia as a vitally important diplomatic protector, particularly in relation to Turkey's military occupation of the north of the country, and as a crucial source of business for its financial services industry, still a pillar of the economy despite the 2013 meltdown.

然而，塞浦路斯仍然把俄羅斯視作至關重要的外交庇護者，尤其是涉及土耳其軍事佔領該國北部的問題時。此外，它還把俄羅斯看做金融服務行業重要的生意來源。儘管2013年出現了金融危機，金融服務行業仍然是塞浦路斯的經濟支柱。

An agreement sealed during Anastasiades' visit to Moscow allows Russian warships to dock in Limassol, Cyprus' commercial hub and heavily dependent on wealthy Russians who want to set up shell companies to shuffle their assets overseas.

阿納斯塔夏季斯訪問莫斯科期間簽署的協議規定，俄羅斯的軍艦可以在塞浦路斯的商業中心利馬索爾進港。利馬索爾一直嚴重依賴想要通過空殼公司把財富轉至海外的俄羅斯富人。

Anastasiades insisted that military accords signed in Moscow merely extended a 1996 agreement and were “nothing new.” The terms of the agreements, however, are all secret, so it is impossible to know what Russia managed to gain.

阿納斯塔夏季斯堅稱，在莫斯科簽署的軍事協議只是延長了一份1966年的協議，“沒有什麼新內容”。不過，這些協議的條款全部保密，因此，無法得知俄羅斯究竟獲得了哪些利益。

Anastasiades, who traveled to Moscow after recovering from heart surgery in New York, denied tilting away from the West toward Russia. As the leader of a small country, divided since a Turkish invasion in 1974 and situated on a fault line between East and West, Anastasiades said he seeks good relations with all sides and “even with the devil.” He added, “I do not have the luxury to choose my friends.”

阿納斯塔夏季斯是在紐約接受心臟手術之後訪問莫斯科的。他否認自己在偏離西方，向俄羅斯傾斜。阿納斯塔夏季斯說，作爲一個自1974年土耳其入侵後陷入分裂、處在東西方斷層線的小國領導人，他尋求與各方建立良好的關係，“哪怕對方是邪惡的”。他還表示，“我沒有選擇朋友的那種奢侈。”

He said Russia might also get a role in the search for and development of gas reserves off the coast of Cyprus, a venture until now monopolized by Western companies.

他說俄羅斯可能也會參與塞浦路斯近海天然氣儲備的尋找和開發，這項活動迄今爲止一直由西方公司壟斷。

Russia's ambassador to Cyprus, Stanislav Osadchi, told a Russian-language newspaper, one of several in Limassol serving the town's large Russian-speaking population, that the Anastasiades' meeting with Putin, “demonstrated that, despite attempts to isolate Russia and revive the Cold War, there are countries that do not want this.”

俄羅斯駐塞浦路斯大使斯坦尼斯拉夫·奧薩德齊(Stanislav Osadchi)對一家俄文報紙說，阿納斯塔夏季斯與普京的會面“證明儘管有些國家企圖孤立俄羅斯，重新挑起冷戰，但有一些國家並不想這樣。”這份報紙是利馬索爾面向俄語人口的幾家報紙之一。

“For lots of people on this island, Russia is seen as a savior,” Harry Tzimitras, director of PRIO Cyprus Center, a Norwegian-funded research group in Nicosia. This, he added, provides fertile ground for efforts by Moscow to “infiltrate the European Union” and “show that it can disrupt certain policies” promoted by Washington and Brussels.

“對於這個島嶼上的許多人來說，俄羅斯被視作救世主，”由挪威投資的尼科西亞研究機構奧斯陸和平研究所塞浦路斯中心(PRIO Cyprus Centre)的主任哈里·齊米特拉斯(Harry Tzimitras)說。他接着說，這爲莫斯科“滲透歐盟”的努力提供了肥沃的土壤，“證明了它能夠干擾”由華盛頓和布魯塞爾倡導的“某些政策”。

Vasilis Zertalis, the head of Prospectacy, a financial service company, described Cyprus as a “small piece on a big chessboard.” Europe, he said, tried to advance its own position during the 2013 banking crisis by seeking to end Cyprus's role as a haven for Russian money.

金融服務公司Prospectacy負責人瓦西利斯·澤爾塔利斯(Vasilis Zertalis)稱，塞浦路斯是“大棋盤上的小棋子。”他說，在2013年的銀行業危機中，歐洲試圖終結塞浦路斯作爲俄羅斯財富避風港的角色，從而在此地佔據更有利的位置。

“They wanted to scare the Russians away,” he said. “But the money that left was from Britain, from other European countries and from America.”

“他們想把俄羅斯人嚇跑，”他說。“然而撤出的資金卻來自英國、其他歐洲國家和美國。”

Ordinary Cypriots and politicians, he said, “all gave up on the European Union” because of the harsh bailout terms in 2013 and “know that the United States will never take a stand against Turkey.”

他說，由於2013年嚴苛的救助條款，塞浦路斯的普通人和政界人士“都對歐盟不再抱有幻想，”而且“知道美國絕不會跟土耳其針鋒相對。”

“So,” he said, “the only allies Cyprus really has are Russia and maybe China.”

“因此，”他說，“塞浦路斯真正的盟友只有俄羅斯，或許還有中國。”