“Are You Totally Stupid”: Varoufakis Reveals Outburst Against Tsipras

Remember the Summer of 2015 Greek tragicomedy, when Athens bluffed, then double bluffed it was going to exit the Eurozone only to realize all its deposits are held hostage by the ECB, resulting in “pro-austerity” PM Alexis Tsipras becoming a vassal of Brussels, and firing his firebrand finance minister Yanis Varoufakis who demanded Greece hold until the bitter end?

Well, it now appears that the bad blood between the two is still there because as The Greek Reporter writes this morning, Yanis Varoufakis revealed he accused Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of being “totally stupid” in accepting a demand by Greece’s creditors for big primary surpluses.

During an interview with Greece’s Parapolitika radio, Varoufakis said when he learned that Tsipras in 2015 accepted, without consulting him, a primary surplus target of 3.5% he confronted the premier:

“I told him: ‘Are you totally stupid? What have they given you in return?’ And he replied: ‘Oh, maybe I was stupid. I will retract from the promise’.” Amusingly, Varoufakis actually said he used a stronger word than “stupid”.

In the same interview, the former finance minister repeated claims that Tsipras did not really want to win in the infamous July 2015 referendum on the bailout, something which has been speculated previously.

Varoufakis said he remembered that everyone at the prime minister’s office that evening was sad.

“I do not know when exactly Tsipras decided to capitulate,” he added.

Referring to his successor, Euclid Tsakalotos, he said: “I can no longer recognize him. Euclid became a yes man on July 6 [2015]… ?he case of Euclid hurts, because I was an eyewitness of his total transformation,” he added.

Varoufakis also confirmed that he still has in his possession recordings of the Eurogroup meetings of the turbulent first half of 2015.

Meanwhile, as Varoufakis recalls old glories, Tsirpas is still prime minister, and since Greece is once again in Europe’s good books, the country’s sovereign bonds are yielding the lowest they have in a decade. Meanwhile, nothing has actually changed in the Greek economy, and as we reported last week, Greeks are now striking to be allowed to go on strike, even as Greek lenders are proposing huge bad debt haircuts, as high as 90%, for borrowers with debts from consumer loans, credit cards or small business loans without collateral…