German FinMin: Accusations Over Derogatory Statements for Greek Counterpart Are 'Nonsense'

At a time when the relations between Athens and Berlin seem to reach bottom, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble characterized the accusations that he described his Greek counterpart Yanis Varoufakis as “foolishly naive,” after a Brussels Eurogroup meeting on Monday as “nonsense.” Schaeuble’s public answer comes just two days after the Greek Ambassador in Berlin made a demarche to the German Foreign Ministry in order to express Greece’s discontent over Schaeuble’s derogatory statements, following a Greek Foreign Ministry order.

“There was an official complaint from our Ambassador in Berlin to the German Foreign Ministry on Tuesday night,” Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman Constantinos Koutras said on Thursday. “It was a complaint after what he [Schaeuble] said about Mr. Varoufakis. As a Minister of a country that is our friend and ally, he cannot personally insult a colleague,” Koutras explained.

Commenting today on the development, Schaeuble told Reuters that he has never insulted Varoufakis. “No, I have not insulted my Greek counterpart, that is nonsense,” he said.

Recently, the relations between German and Greek government have deteriorated. The leftist SYRIZA-led Greek coalition government has repeatedly attacked oversight of its work by a Troika of representatives from the country’s creditors; the European Commission (EC), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Berlin on the opposite, insists on the unpopular Troika’s role in the Greek bailout program negotiations.