French Presient Francois Hollande on Tuesday said he regards bank deposit protection as an “irrevocable principle” but conceded that Cyprus represented a one-time, unique case.
Hollande made his remarks as European officials moved to allay concerns that the tough bailout deal for Cyprus could also apply to other states at the centre of the euro debt crisis.
Hollande spoke after meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in Paris.
The French president said that whoever deposited money in a bank in the Eurozone needed to be reassured that the deposit was protected. Hollande said it was a question of trust.
Hollande said the process in Cyprus — where people who have deposited more than 100,000 euros in a Cypriot bank must contribute to the Cyprus bailout deal — was a one-time, unique case, “but necessary at the same time.”