Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis Resigns
Despite his country’s decisive rejection of the European Union’s terms for remaining in the eurozone, the Greek finance minister has quit his post, citing an unwillingness on the part of some EU ministers to negotiate with him.
In this video from The Guardian, Yanis Varoufakis refuses to answer reporters’ questions about his resignation.
Despite his country’s decisive rejection of the European Union’s terms for remaining in the eurozone, Yanis Varoufakis, the Greek finance minister, has quit his post, citing an unwillingness on the part of some EU ministers to negotiate with him.
The Guardian reports:
Varoufakis, who infuriated eurozone leaders and recently compared Greece’s creditors to terrorists, said the Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, thought it would be better if he stood down, after pressure from European leaders.
Announcing his resignation in a blog post entitled “Minister No More!” on Monday, he wrote: “Soon after the announcement of the referendum results, I was made aware of a certain preference by some Eurogroup participants [eurozone finance ministers], and assorted ‘partners’, for my … ‘absence’ from its meetings; an idea that 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.
“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.
“And I shall wear the creditors’ loathing with pride.”
Read more here.
— Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.
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