Well.. well… well… Τhe Kommandatur in Berlin wants to have Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis replaced. The first articles on this issue started to circulate a couple of weeks ago. There were claims that the German ambassador in Athens had intervene towards this direction. Along the way, the German intervention towards Athens has got out of control, reaching a dangerous, if not a truly shameless point. That is the blatant violation of international law in the from of an orchestrated at this stage verbal attempt to overturn a democratic elected coalition government. Target of the German coalition government is not only Yanis Varoufakis but also Tsipras coalition partner, Panos Kammenos, the leader of Independent Greeks.
Varoufakis
On Saturday, one of the German sheets insisting to call themselves newspapers claimed that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was going to proceed immediately to replacement the Minister of Finance. Reason for the foolish assumption of the German reporter was that Tsipras was holding a cabinet meeting without Varoufakis who was still in Italy on a work visit.
Next day, on Sunday, the first program of the German public broadcaster ARD had invited Varoufakis for a live stream interview. Presenter Gunther Jauch displayed a video downloaded from YouTube in which apparently Varoufakis showed the middle finger to the country’s lenders. Varoufakis categorically turned down the claim and Jauch said that his team would examine the originality of the video.
The video was supposed to have been from 2013. However, the
Jauch team manipulated the video in the sense that it took several excertps of of context and it looked as if Varoufakis was speaking of today.
“My proposal was that Greece should simply announce that it is defaulting — just like Argentina did — , within the Euro, in January 2010, and stick the finger to Germany and say: „Well, you can now solve this problem by yourself.“
On Monday, several mainstream conservative newspapers attacked Varoufakis for the middle finger he may never raised.
Kammenos
Varoufakis is not the sole target of the German coalition government of Christian Democrats and Socialists of CDU and SPD. While the Conservatives of CDU try their best to deconstruct Varoufakis, the SPD has declared Tsipras, coalition partner Panos Kammenos to the target of their archery exercises.
The German President of the European Parliament,
Martin Schulz (SPD) unmistakably violated his responsibilities repeated that he had advised PM Tsipras to get rid of his coalition partner. Even his coalition partner CDU criticized the esteemed EP President saying
“It is not our job to ask elected governments to end coalitions, “said the Union Coordinator on the Foreign Relations Committee, Roderich Kiesewetter (CDU), adding that the European Parliament President has clearly “overstepped” his responsibilities.
In Germany, vice chancellor and SPD chief
Sigmar Gabriel complained to yellow press BILD:
“I have absolutely no understanding, but his constant attacks against Germany and the personal attacks and insults against the German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble by Greek government representatives.”
Gabriel was referring to a recent interview by Panos Kammenos to the same newspaper in which he reminded the German readers of the CDU-donations scandal in which Schaeuble was involved and lost the CDU chairmanship on Angela Merkel.
Non-stop provocations
The current “huge rift” in Greek-German relations is unprecedented with both sides pouring “poison and gal” at each other on a daily basis. Trust is broken and it seems as if it is difficult that relations come back to normal.
The German anti-Greek campaign is led by Wolfgang Schaeuble and his controversial and arrogant statements with the latest bizzaro being his claim that a
Grexident (Grexit+ accident) may happen, on the same day he has declared that Greece was not “
a hopeless case.”
As expected, the Greeks strike back and they don’t leave the German provocations unanswered. But apart form the Grexit, Grexident accidents and threats and oft ironic comments under the belt, the most serious provocation is the constant German insistence to change of the government coalition and ministers. That it: to abandon the coalition which secures the Greek government a majority in Parliament.
It is the
language of hate what German media and politicians use and diplomatic phrase may not save the situation, some German newspapers criticized the anti-Greek campaign.
But more than the language of hate, is it the unacceptable intervention in the Greek politics that bug me most of all.
If it is to go according to Germany’ wishes, today it is Varoufakis to be replaced, tomorrow Kammenos and on Friday, Minister X and on Sunday Minister Y.
No way, dear German kids, this is not going to happen!
PS it is a real shame for the European Parliament to have a president who does not respect democratic procedures. #PFUI
German: Pfui = English: ugh, yuck!
1.Find the wrong answer:
– Germany provokes Greek government in order to overturn it.
– EU requires real reforms before issuing new loans.
2.
– What do you call somenone who gives away money?
– Idiot.
EU is not.
Varoufakis showed the middle finger to the country’s lenders.
this is not thrue.
he showed the finger to Germeny.
All the more evidence that Germany feels it has the right to rule Greece. As for Varoufakis showing “the finger”, he has alot more class than to do that. But, then again, perhaps Germany does not understand “class”.