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15 Jul, 2015 21:19

Beat the dog before the lion: Varoufakis accuses Schauble of sacrificing Greece

Beat the dog before the lion: Varoufakis accuses Schauble of sacrificing Greece

Freshly out of the Greek Finance Minister’s chair, Yanis Varoufakis has declared that his German counterpart Wolfgang Schäuble wants to punish Greece – sacrificing it to reform the monetary union.

In his article for Die Zeit, Varoufakis said that the goal of the German finance minister is to "discipline member states who opposed his very special plan to reform the eurozone by sharpening the social crisis in a controlled way.” Grexit proposed by Schäuble is therefore only a tool.

One of the final aims of Schäuble is, according to Varoufakis, to supervise budget policy of the eurozone member states with a special structure which will be able to impose a veto on national budgets.

The Greek ex-finance minister wrote that Schäuble and other hardliners had told him at his first meeting of eurozone finance ministers that "elections change nothing."

“That infringes basic principles of western liberal democracy,” concluded Varoufakis. "The consistency with which Dr. Schäuble advocates for a political union that contradicts the basic principles of a democratic federation is striking."

READ MORE: Tear gas v petrol bombs: Clashes mar massive Greek protest against bailout deal

Last week German Finance Minister proposed a plan for an interim Grexit – from his point of view, Greece needed to leave the eurozone for five years to restructure its debt.

Wolfgang Schäuble has been the Minister of Finance of Germany since 2009 and is an advocate of strict budget discipline for the eurozone member states. Twice he was a Federal Minister of the Interior and once – in 1998-2000 he held position of chairman of the CDU but had to resign after a party financing scandal.

Yanis Varoufakis was a Greek finance minister after radical left coalition Syriza won elections on January 25. On July, 6 he resigned after the Greeks voted against new bailout deal with creditors. Varoufakis explained that his negotiation partners didn’t want to hold talks with him, and he described the bailout deal as "a new Versailles Treaty." The Treaty of Versailles demanded huge reparations be paid by Germany after its defeat in World War One.

Despite the success of a referendum in which the Greek people voted against a bailout agreement, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras signed a new deal with creditors. According to the terms of the bailout, Greece will receive €82-86 billion for three years after passing new austerity measures. Now the Prime Minister is facing opposition from his own coalition Syriza as well as public outrage.

Last week German Finance Minister proposed a plan for an interim Grexit – from his point of view, Greece needed to leave the eurozone for five years to restructure its debt.

Wolfgang Schäuble has been the Minister of Finance of Germany since 2009 and is an advocate of strict budget discipline for the eurozone member states. Twice he was a Federal Minister of the Interior and once – in 1998-2000 he held position of chairman of the CDU but had to resign after a party financing scandal.

READ MORE: No to ‘EU colony’: Tsipras faces opposition from govt & people against bailout deal

Yanis Varoufakis was a Greek finance minister after radical left coalition Syriza won elections on January 25. On July, 6 he resigned after the Greeks voted against new bailout deal with creditors. Varoufakis explained that his negotiation partners didn’t want to hold talks with him, and he described the bailout deal as "a new Versailles Treaty." The Treaty of Versailles demanded huge reparations be paid by Germany after its defeat in World War One.

Despite the success of a referendum in which the Greek people voted against a bailout agreement, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras signed a new deal with creditors. According to the terms of the bailout, Greece will receive €82-86 billion for three years after passing new austerity measures. Now the Prime Minister is facing opposition from his own coalition Syriza as well as public outrage.

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