The former
Greek finance minster has said his country's economic reforms are "going
to fail", just as formal talks on a huge bailout are set to begin.
The German parliament approved the opening
of negotiations on Friday. The bailout could total €86bn (£60bn) in exchange
for austerity measures. In a damning assessment, Mr Varoufakis said: "This
programme is going to fail whoever undertakes its implementation." Asked
how long that would take, he replied: "It has failed already."
Mr Varoufakis resigned earlier this month,
in what was widely seen as a conciliatory gesture towards the eurozone finance
ministers he had frequently clashed with. He said Greek Prime Minister Alexis
Tsipras, who has admitted that he does not believe in the bailout, had little
option but to sign.
"We were given a choice between being
executed and capitulating. And he decided that capitulation was the ultimate
strategy." Mr Tsipras has announced a cabinet reshuffle, sacking several
ministers who voted against the reforms in parliament this week. Energy
minister Panagiotis Lafazanis, one of the hardline rebels, was among those
replaced. But Mr Tsipras opted not to bring in technocrats or opposition
politicians as replacements.
As a result, says the BBC's Mark Lobel in
Athens, Mr Tsipras will preside over ministers who, like himself, harbour
serious doubts about the reform programme. Greece must pass further reforms on
Wednesday next week to secure the bailout.
Germany was the last of the eurozone
countries needing parliamentary approval to begin the talks, with Greece voting
to accept hard-hitting austerity measures earlier in the week.
But the head of the Eurogroup of finance
ministers, Jeroen Dijsselbloem has warned that the process will not be easy,
saying he expected the negotiations to take four weeks.
Some Greek banks could reopen on Monday
following weeks of closures, after the European Central Bank (ECB) raised the
level of emergency funding available.
Separately, the European Council approved
the €7bn bridging loan for Greece from an EU-wide emergency fund. The loan was
approved in principle by eurozone ministers on Thursday and now has the
go-ahead from all non-euro states.
It means Greece will now be able to repay
debts to two of its creditors, the ECB and International Monetary Fund (IMF),
due on Monday.
Πηγή: bbc.com
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