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Varoufakis Praises German Chancellor and Doubts Greek Prime Minister

varoufakis16Former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, who held his ministerial post from January until his resignation on July 6 2015, once again expressed his disbelief in the success of Greece’s new bailout program while praising Germany’s approach to the refugee crisis.
During an interview with German newspaper Deutsche Welle, Varoufakis’ resignation was followed by the agreement of a new Greek bailout, which will provide Greece with 86 billion euros over three years.
Two months into the deal, the Greek government and international creditors are already in a dispute about the implementation of certain reforms and austerity measures, including foreclosures on first homes, VAT on private education and reforms in the licenses for pharmacies. The discrepancy is delaying the disbursement of two billion euros of bailout funds to Greece.
“Tsipras is not going to succeed, and he knows that,” Varoufakis said.”I resigned because I was not prepared to sign up to a reform program that was impossible to implement. Tsipras clearly stated that he was forced to accept this program, although he did not believe it could be implemented.”
Varoufakis resigned one day following the July 5 referendum in Greece, in which Greeks rejected a bailout plan proposed by the international creditors.
“We now have this ludicrous situation where the powers that be in Europe – including the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank, the German and the Greek governments – are all pretending to be implementing a program which they know cannot be implemented. I refused to be part of these shenanigans, and that is why I resigned,” he added.
Despite his departure from the administration and his dismissal of the new bailout deal, Varoufakis notes that he has never had a negative encounter with Tsipras following his resignation.
Varoufakis’s dispute with the German government throughout his term, with regards to the economic route Greece and Europe should take, was well documented. However, in this interview the former finance minister praised German Chancellor Angela Merkel for her response to the refugee crisis.
“As a European, I am exceedingly proud of Chancellor Merkel for her principled stance on the question of refugees. This is an example of how misguided the criticism is of Germany as the source of problems for Europe, which is prevalent not just in Greece, but in France, in Italy, and in Spain. I believe Chancellor Merkel’s stance can be a harbinger of good things to come for Europe,” Varoufakis claimed.
He elaborated that he believes Merkel understands the moral obligation of helping somebody in need and noted that this hospitable approach reaffirms European humanism.
 

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