Varoufakis steps down but will remain on negotiating team
A spokesman for Greece´s left-wing Syriza party, Stavros Karagounis, announced on Monday that former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis would remain a part of Greece's negotiating team despite having decided to step down from his post.
Read more: Greeks back government by voting 'no' to bailout conditions
Karagounis said Varoufakis' decision showed he was only interested in supporting Greece´s negotiations and not acting out of self interest.
“It is a personal decision by Yanis Varoufakis, who knows when and how to help”, Kragounis told Spain´s national radio broadcaster RNE.
The Syriza spokesman also said the outcome of voting would lead to real negotiations, adding that “without a deal, Greece and Europe could not continue”.
He added the Greek government was also waiting for a return to “European legality,” labelling the ECB´s decision to cut liquidity assistance to Greek banks "illegal".
“It is likely in the Greek PM Alexis Tsipras' best interest to keep the negotiating door open, therefore toning down rhetoric tomorrow morning. Whether he is willing to change the negotiating team and any broader changes to critical ministries in particular would be a positive surprise and an important sign of good will. A persistence of aggressive rhetoric would, on the other hand, reduce the odds of a European willingness to re-engage,” Deutsche Bank economist George Saravelos said in a research report e-mailed to clients on Sunday evening.
"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," Varoufakis said in a statement.
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