Yanis Varoufakis quits as Greek finance minister with a swipe at EU leaders

 
Stepping down: Yanis Varoufakis (AP)
Petros Giannakouris, AP
Robin de Peyer6 July 2015

Greece's finance minister has stepped down from his position with a swipe at EU leaders after his country's historic 'No' vote yesterday.

Yanis Varoufakis quit his post hours after his left-wing Syriza party triumphed as 61 per cent of voters rejected the terms of an international bailout.

Announcing his departure in a blog post, Mr Varoufakis said Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras had suggested it would be "helpful" for him to step down.

In an apparent swipe at the EU leaders and officials Greece must now negotiate with, he wrote: "Soon after the announcement of the referendum results, I was made aware of a certain preference by some Eurogroup participants, and assorted ‘partners’, for my… ‘absence’ from its meetings; an idea that the Prime Minister judged to be potentially helpful to him in reaching an agreement. For this reason I am leaving the Ministry of Finance today."

Mr Varoufakis hailed yesterday's referendum result as a "unique moment" and pledged to help Mr Tsipras "exploit the capital" the outcome had offered Greece.

And he defiantly added: "I shall wear the creditors’ loathing with pride.

"The superhuman effort to honour the brave people of Greece, and the famous OXI (NO) that they granted to democrats the world over, is just beginning."

It comes as the UK government warned of a "critical moment" after the referendum result. David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne are expected to meet Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, later today.

A Number 10 spokesman said: "The Greek people expressed a decisive view in yesterday's referendum. This is a critical moment in the economic crisis in Greece. We will continue to do whatever is necessary to protect our economic security at this uncertain time.

"We have already got contingency plans in place and later this morning the Prime Minister will chair a further meeting to review those plans in light of yesterday's result."

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