Former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis claimed that German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told him that he essentially toppled the Antonis Samaras government in 2014.
On Monday evening, Varoufakis presented the Greek version of his book “And the weak suffer what They must?” (Greek title “The plunder of Europe”) in Athens.
When answering to questions by journalists and attendees, Varoufakis revealed that during the negotiations before Greece signed the third bailout program agreement, Schaeuble had confided in him that he was the one who decided to overthrow the New Democracy-PASOK coalition in June 2014.
Specifically, the former minister said he had a private conversation with his German counterpart at the time on the sidelines of a Eurogroup session. “The third memorandum of understanding was planned in 2013-2014. Since June 2014, Mr. Schaeuble had decided that Samaras was not suitable for the purpose. I asked him, “Wolfgang, when did you decide to take Samaras down?” And he replied, “In June 2014.”
Varoufakis asked the audience: “Do you think Schaeuble cares about Greece?” He further said that Greece is “a collateral damage in a war between Germany and France,” and added that the goal of the German finance minister is to control the national budget of France.
The former minister stressed that European politicians agree with Schaeuble’s position that “there is no alternative for Europe” and accused the SYRIZA administration for supporting that opinion and obeying into signing the third memorandum of understanding.
Varoufakis said that the solution to Greece’s problems with European policies and the current bailout program negotiations is “constructive disobedience.”
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