Former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis was brutally beaten with punches and kicks by a group of people wearing hoods outside a restaurant and ended up in a hospital with a fracture in the nose and a bruise under the eye on Friday night.
Hours later and following scans and treatment, he left the hospital with a nose brace despite doctors’ advice to stay overnight. His health condition seems to be otherwise fine.
Saturday morning, Varoufakis blamed “hired thugs” for the assault as the attackers falsely accused him of signing off on Greece’s bailouts with the troika.
“They were not anarchists, leftists, communists or members of any movement. Thugs for hire they were (and looked it), who clumsily invoked the lie that I sold out to the troika. We shall not let them divide us. Onwards!” Varoufakis posted on Twitter in Greek and English.
By they bye: They were not anarchists, leftists, communists or members of any movement. Thugs for hire they were (and looked it) who clumsily invoked the lie that I sold out to the troika. We shall not let them divide us. Onwards! 2/2
— Yanis Varoufakis (@yanisvaroufakis) March 11, 2023
The assault took place at 9:30 p.m. in a restaurant in Exarchia district in downtown Athens and thus in an area with strong police presence. Varoufakis was dining with his wife and members of his DiEM25 party from all over Europe.
According to state ERT TV, one of the attackers was wearing an iron-fist, while another was filming the assault with his mobile.
“A small group of thugs stormed the place shouting aggressively, falsely accusing him of signing off on Greece’s bailouts with the troika. Varoufakis stood up to talk to them but they immediately responded with violence, savagely beating him while filming the scene,” a DiEM25 statement read.
A short while ago, @yanisvaroufakis was the victim of a cowardly attack at an Athens restaurant while with DiEM25 members from all over Europe. https://t.co/EAV6WjT5LU
— DiEM25 (@DiEM_25) March 10, 2023
MeRA25, the Greek wing of DiEM25, described it as a “brazen fascist attack.”
Ii is recalled that Varoufakis was assaulted in the same restaurant in 2015.
Varoufakis expressed his thanks for the treatment he received in hospital.“Thank U to our Greek NHS staff for treating me. Thank U all for your solidarity. Let us please stay focused: We are mourning the 57 victims of rail privatization. We support the spontaneous youth rallies, the greatest hope that Greece can change. See you at the demonstrations.”
Thank U to our Greek NHS staff for treating me. Thank U all for your solidarity. Let us please stay focused: We are mourning the 57 victims of rail privatisation. We support the spontaneous youth rallies, the greatest hope that Greece can change. See you at the demonstrations 1/2
— Yanis Varoufakis (@yanisvaroufakis) March 11, 2023
Political world condemns assault
Officials and politicians from across the political spectrum condemned the assault, led by President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, who said “violence has no place in our democracy” and that it is “the responsibility of all to guard our political culture.”
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras, PASOK spokesperson Dimitris Manzos, Communist Party parliamentary spokesperson Nikos Karathanasopoulos and Hellenic Solution leader Kyriakos Velopoulos also condemned the incident.
Citizen Protection Minister Takis Theodorikakos, who spoke with Varoufakis on the phone, said police would take all measures to identify and arrest the perpetrators.
He noted that the MeRA25 leader, “at his own initiative, was not accompanied by his personal police detail” while at the restaurant.
Disgusting behaviour ! Violence solves NOTHING and should be dealt with firmly.