Europe Being Sold TOXIC Lies. Yanis Varoufakis, one of the European economists committed to an economy for people, not shareholders, explains the systematic background to the policy of escation to war
- Wolfgang Lieberknecht
- 20. Mai
- 6 Min. Lesezeit
Ioannis Georgiou "Yanis" Varoufakis[a] (/ˈjænɪs væruːˈfækɪs/;[3] born 24 March 1961)[4][5] is a Greek economist and politician. Since 2018, he has been Secretary-General of the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25), a left-wing pan-European political party he co-founded in 2016. Previously, he was a member of Syriza and was Greece's Minister of Finance between January 2015 and July 2015, negotiating on behalf of the Greek government during the 2009–2018 Greek government-debt crisis.
Ioannis Georgiou "Yanis" Varoufakis[a] (/ˈjænɪs væruːˈfækɪs/;[3] born 24 March 1961)[4][5] is a Greek economist and politician. Since 2018, he has been Secretary-General of the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25), a left-wing pan-European political party he co-founded in 2016. Previously, he was a member of Syriza and was Greece's Minister of Finance between January 2015 and July 2015, negotiating on behalf of the Greek government during the 2009–2018 Greek government-debt crisis.
Varoufakis was first elected as a Member of the Hellenic Parliament with Syriza, representing the Athens B constituency from January to September 2015. He was appointed Minister of Finance by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras two days after the election, serving in this role between January 2015 and July 2015. Varoufakis then represented Thessaloniki A from July 2019 to May 2023 as a MeRA25 Member of Parliament.
Later political career (2015–present)
In September 2015, Varoufakis appeared on the British topical debate show, Question Time, and was praised for his performance by Mark Lawson in The Guardian, who wrote: "several of the sentences he spoke in a second language were more impressive than most that his fellow panellists managed in their native tongue."[44] He appeared on the show again in October 2016[45] and March 2019.[46] He has described himself as a "libertarian Marxist".[47]
Varoufakis attended an event in London hosted by The Guardian on 23 October 2015, where he spoke about the UK's upcoming European Union membership referendum. He said that the UK should remain in the EU, but also campaign to democratise it: "My message is simple yet rich: those of us who disdain the democratic deficit in Brussels, those of us who detest the authoritarianism of a technocracy which is incompetent and contemptuous of democracy, those of us who are most critical of Europe have a moral duty to stay in Europe, fight for it, and democratise it."[48] He would return to the UK, in May 2016, in the final stages of the campaigning to again urge a remain vote.[49] On 9 February 2016, Varoufakis launched the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25) at the Volksbühne in Berlin.[50]
In March 2016, Varoufakis publicly supported the idea of a basic income.[51] On 2 April 2016, in reaction to tension between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the IMF, Varoufakis said there was underway "an attrition war between a reasonably numerate villain (the IMF) and a chronic procrastinator (Berlin)" as to Greek debt relief.[51]
In March 2018, Varoufakis announced the launch of his own political party, MeRA25, with a stated aim of freeing Greece from "debt bondage". He stated that he hoped the party would be based on an alliance of "people of the left and liberalism, greens and feminists".[52] The party, whose name stands for "European Realistic Disobedience Front", is affiliated to DiEM25.[53]
On 20 August 2018, in an on-stage book festival interview in Edinburgh, Varoufakis pressed Jeremy Corbyn, head of the British Labour Party, to "be a bit more ambitious" and become involved in the international progressive movement, saying "We need a progressive international".[54][55] On 13 September, Varoufakis penned an op-ed piece in The Guardian about the need for an international progressive movement,[56] alongside a similar piece by fellow progressive U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders.[57] On 26 October in Rome, Varoufakis announced the Progressive International,[58] which was described as a "common blueprint for an International New Deal, a progressive New Bretton Woods". The organization officially launched on 30 November in Sanders' home town of Burlington, Vermont.[59][60]
On 25 November 2018, Varoufakis was selected to head the list of "Demokratie in Europa"[61] (an initiative of Varoufakis' DiEM25 with the support of the German mini-party Democracy in Motion), for the 2019 European elections[62] but was not elected, as the list failed to elect a single MEP.[63]
On 7 July 2019, his party MeRA25 passed the threshold necessary to enter the Greek parliament and Varoufakis was re-elected an MP.[64]
In November 2019, along with other public figures, Varoufakis signed a letter supporting Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn describing Corbyn as "a beacon of hope in the struggle against emergent far-right nationalism, xenophobia and racism in much of the democratic world" and endorsed him in the 2019 UK general election.[65] In December 2019, along with 42 other leading cultural figures, he signed a letter endorsing the Labour Party under Corbyn's leadership in the 2019 general election. The letter stated that "Labour's election manifesto under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership offers a transformative plan that prioritises the needs of people and the planet over private profit and the vested interests of a few."[66][67]
Varoufakis wrote an article for Project Syndicate in late 2021, commenting on and critiquing Facebook's newly introduced Meta project.[68]
In an October 2022 interview, Varoufakis stated that the U.S. wants to keep the Russo-Ukrainian War going, as it serves American interests. For the war to end, he proposed that the opposing sides should come to an agreement, that will include the withdrawal of the Russian troops to their pre-February 24 bases, a commitment from the U.S. that Ukraine will not enter NATO, mutual guarantees of Ukraine's independence and neutrality, a Good Friday-like agreement for the Donbas area, and the issue of Russia's annexation of Crimea to be discussed in the next 50 years, as there is no way that this can be resolved peacefully at this stage.[69] He also said that he supports Ukraine, as he would do for "any nation, any country, any people, that are defending their homes."[70]
On 10 March 2023, Varoufakis was dining with DiEM25 associates in central Athens when a group of individuals entered the restaurant, approached him, and accused him of siding with the troika, selling out on austerity bailouts.[71] When he took the confrontation outside, they beat him violently, in what DiEM25 described as a "brazen fascist attack".[72] At least one person, a teenager, was charged in the attack.[73] After the attack, Varoufakis decided to accept police protection by the Ministry of Citizen Protection.[74]
At both the May and June 2023 Greek elections, his party MeRA25 failed to pass the threshold necessary to enter the Greek parliament and Varoufakis was therefore not re-elected as an MP.[75]
At the 2024 European Parliament election, he was again a candidate in Greece but he was not elected.[76] His movement DiEM25 stood electoral lists in Greece, Germany and Italy but failed to elect any MEP.[77]
Gaza war and German entry ban
In April 2024, due to the ongoing Gaza war, the party of Yanis Varoufakis co-organised a pro-Palestinian conference that was scheduled to take place in Berlin on 12 April 2024, and last for three days. The conference was interrupted and halted as soon as it began by the Berlin Police, on the orders of Berlin mayor Kai Wegner. The police said they "feared that attendees would make anti-Semitic remarks and glorify violence".[78][79] The German State issued a Betätigungsverbot (ban on activities) against Yanis Varoufakis, Ghassan Abu-Sitta (who was arrested upon entering Germany), and Salman Abu Sitta.[80] Germany also banned Varoufakis for four days from entering Germany and from engaging in any political activities in the country or from participating in similar exchanges on online platforms.[81]
Kommentare