Greek finance minister attacked in Athens restaurant
Yanis Varoufakis attacked by a gorup of young 'anarchists' while dining with his wife and a friend in Athens
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis was attacked by a group of “anti-state” youths while dining with his wife in a central Athens restaurant.
The outspoken minister said that the couple were with a friend in the Exarchia district, a neighbourhood popular with leftists and anarchists, when the group barged into the restaurant.
The youths, who had their faces covered, threw glass objects at the couple and demanded that Varoufakis leave the area. Neither of them were hurt.
He said that the youths approached him a threatening manner, his wife, Danae Stratou, embraced him so that the potential attackers could not get at him without hitting her first.
Another verbal confrontation took place as the couple tried to leave the restaurant on his motorbike,
“This was not an organised incident,” Varoufakis said in a statement.
Attacks against Greek ministers were frequent in the first years of Greece’s bailout, and sometimes involved attempted physical violence.
Varoufakis has come under criticism from Greece’ss European creditors, with whom negotiations on unlocking the final €7.2bn instalment of Greece’s bailout have stalled. Varoufakis’ negotiating style has been criticised and fellow minister Euclid Tsakalotos replaced him in talks with Greece's European partners late on Monday, in an attempt to unlock the instalment.
Greece faces almost €1bn in debt interest payments to the International Monetary Fund in the next fortnight as well as regular salary payments to civil servants.
