EU Commission Pierre Moscovici didn’t mince his words this week in describing former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis as a “irrepressible narcissist” that “cannibalized” negotiations between Athens and its institutional creditors in the first half of 2015
The description is included in a book written by the former French FinMin. Moscovici charges that Varoufakis’ unorthodox public statements, his appearance and incessant preoccupation with the media shifted attention on him, personally, and “cannibalized” negotiations for months.
In a response, Varoufakis took to his Twitter account, posting in Greek: “As the third memorandum continues to collapse, the more determined they are to honor me with their hate because I did not sign. I again thank them”.
Moscovici charges that Varoufakis brought his political and ideological opposition with German FinMin Wolfgang Schauble to the forefront of negotiations, as well as his animosity towards Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem.
In the end, he said, Greece lost six valuable months in fruitless negotiations.
