Varoufakis admits nothing insulting in Riga, I recorded the Eurogroup – BBC

The Greek crisis

Milan , May 21, 2015 – 18:13

     
     
 

Yanis Varoufakis never ceases to surprise. The greek Minister of Finance admitted that he recorded the Eurogroup meeting in Riga on April 24, when he was accused by colleagues to be “an amateur and a time waster.” Admission media, made during an interview with the New York Times right to refute the insults received in the Latvian capital and taken from the international press. It being understood, however, that they can not spread the registration ‘for reasons of privacy. “

Reasons of privacy? Eurogroup meetings are confidential and the EU Commission expects that the participants at the top respect this rule, replied an EU spokesperson, Mina Andreeva. It ‘clear that the output of the impromptu greek minister in the press has angered once again the European partners in a time of great uncertainty about the fate of Athens, view the stalled negotiations with its creditors to find a compromise on reforms and unlock the last tranche of aid to 7.2 billion, which is crucial to avoid a default greek.

This is nothing new. Since being appointed head of Finance, Varoufakis is the focus of endless controversy, for its original style and not well adapted to the rituals and conventions of the European institutions. It ended up in the spotlight for his informal dress, often with dark shirt without a tie under the black leather jacket and blue jeans, to irritate European colleagues was especially contemptuous and insulting language against Greece’s creditors, namely the EU, the European Central Bank (ECB), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Annoyed by his indispensable habit of always wanting to climb into the chair and give a lesson in economy.

A few days after the stormy summit in Riga, his role in the negotiations that has been resized Varoufakis and since then is no longer the party of Brussels, Frankfurt and Washington. But it continues to externalize the papers, making it even more complicated the negotiations of Greece. Even in Greece the Minister is contested and accused by his political opponents of having “exceeded the limits of political frivolity and irresponsibility.” Another grain for the greek premier Aleix Tspiras, on Thursday and Friday will be compared with European leaders at a summit in Riga, where he was scheduled to meet informally with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande.

May 21, 2015 | 18:13

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