On refusing a toxic bailout, surviving a decade of demonisation, and why silence is no longer an option

For more than a decade, Yanis Varoufakis has been a target of sustained political and personal attacks in Greece and beyond. From the moment he refused to sign another destructive bailout in 2015 and resigned as Greece’s finance minister, he became a symbol of defiance against an entrenched European and domestic establishment unwilling to tolerate dissent.

What followed was not merely political disagreement, but a prolonged campaign of vilification that went far beyond policy critique. In Greece’s media and political culture, this campaign helped create an atmosphere in which abuse, misrepresentation and even physical intimidation were normalised – not only by those in power, but gradually across society.

In the wake of yet another disturbing incident on Greek television, Yanis felt compelled to reflect publicly on what this decade of demonisation has meant, both personally and politically. What follows is his own account, in his own words.

On a personal note

Ten and a half years ago, as I was resigning Greece’s finance ministry, I knew I would be on the receiving end of slings and arrows sent my way by an irate European and Greek establishment. The reason? I was the only finance minister who dared say an unequivocal ‘no’ to yet another toxic eurozone bailout. Anticipating the vilification that was about to be unleashed against me, I wrote the following in my resignation letter: “I shall wear their hatred on my lapel as a badge of honour”. I have been doing so ever since.

My incessant character assassination, by the mainstream Greek media, was expected – after all, to their oligarch owners, I was an unpleasant reminder of that brief moment in 2015 when they panicked, feeling they had lost their control over the demos. There was, however, something else, something far more pernicious, that I had not anticipated: the manner in which my comprehensive demonisation by the mainstream media and politicians turned me into fair game for all comers.

As the abuse and the vilification aimed at me proliferated, suddenly, surreptitiously, subliminally, the impression was given to almost everyone that it is OK to take shots at me. To lie through the nose about me, without any fear of being exposed as liars. To treat me disrespectfully in my presence, without worrying that they would look uncouth. To attack me physically in public spaces, convinced that they would get away with it as the state could be counted upon not to lift its little finger to protect me.

And the worst? This licence to abuse me, which was initially granted by the establishment, was subconsciously welcomed by people on the left, on society’s fringes even. Former comrades from our days in government, the authoritarian Greek communist party, good people belonging to the extra-parliamentary left, even people who appreciated me – they all felt, deep down, that I could be attacked, insulted, mistreated with impunity. And many did take advantage.

Ten years later, after yet another scandalous incident earlier this evening on a Greek television channel, I felt the need to put down this experience, to commit it to the written record.

Thank you for reading. Yanis Varoufakis

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