Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis resigns

10:38, 6 July 2015

YEREVAN, JULY 6, ARMENPRESS: Greek Finance Minister, Yanis Varoufakis has announced his resignation. Armenpress reports, citing BBC that he said that Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, had felt his leaving would be helpful to Greece in reaching an agreement.

Dr Vassilis Monastiriotis from The London School of Economics told BBC News it is: "Quite surprising as he stated that with a 'No' vote you would be able to bring an agreement for Greece".

ABS News report that the Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis says he will resign from the government, hours after Greeks overwhelmingly rejected conditions of a rescue package from creditors by voting 'No' in a referendum.

In a statement on his blog, Mr Varoufakis said he had been "made aware" that some members of the eurozone considered him unwelcome at meetings of finance ministers, "an idea the prime minister judged to be potentially helpful to him in reaching an agreement".

"For this reason I am leaving the ministry of finance today," he said.

Mr Varoufakis infuriated Greece's European partners last week when he accused creditors of using "terrorism" against the Greek people to intimidate them into accepting more austerity.

"I consider it my duty to help Alexis Tsipras exploit, as he sees fit, the capital that the Greek people granted us through yesterday's referendum," Mr Varoufakis said.

"And I shall wear the creditors' loathing with pride."

He warned that the referendum result — which saw over 60 per cent of Greeks vote to reject the austerity measures demanded by its international creditors — "comes with a large price tag attached... like all struggles for democratic rights".

"The great capital bestowed upon our government (must be) invested immediately into a YES to a proper resolution," he said.

'No' supporters celebrated Sunday's victory, but Greece is now in uncharted waters: risking a banking collapse that could force it out of the euro.

Mr Varoufakis called for a deal that involved "debt restructuring, less austerity, redistribution in favour of the needy, and real reforms."

His straight-talking style produced notable moments including his characterisation of the austerity imposed on Greece as "fiscal waterboarding".

After negotiations broke down between Greece and its creditors, Mr Varoufakis slammed Europe's governance.

"This is not the way to run a monetary union. This is a travesty. It's a comedy of errors for five years now, Europe has been extending and pretending," he said in a BBC interview.

As finance minister Mr Varoufakis, a former Australian academic, shook up the staid world of EU summits by arriving to meetings in rock-star-style leather jackets and untucked shirts. He was quickly dubbed "Greece's Bruce Willis".

His swagger and penchant for lecturing annoyed some EU counterparts at meetings on Greece's debt and he was eventually pulled from frontline negotiations.

Though the maverick minister has always taken a stance protecting ordinary Greeks, his background was anything but common.

He is the son of Giorgos Varoufakis, who at 90 still heads one of Greece's leading steel producers, Halyvourgiki. He also attended the Moraitis School, which has alumni including prominent Greek leaders and artists.

His early career was spent at the English universities of Essex, East Anglia and at Cambridge, and he has often been linked with research into game theory.

In 1998 Mr Varoufakis moved to Australia, and he is now a dual Greek and Australian citizen.

He moved back to Greece in 2000 to teach at the University of Athens, and in January 2013 accepted a post at the University of Texas in Austin.

Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis resigns | ARMENPRESS Armenian News Agency

Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis resigns

Copyright © 2024 ARMENPRESS

About agency