Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis resigns after voters reject bailout

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, whose forceful denunciations of creditors alienated many of his euro zone colleagues, has resigned, saying Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras believed it would help smooth the path to a new aid deal. His resignation comes after Greeks delivered a resounding ‘No’ to the conditions of a rescue package with international creditors, casting the country into uncharted waters and a possible exit from Europe’s common currency.

I consider it my duty to help Alexis Tsipras exploit, as he sees fit, the capital that the Greek people granted us through yesterday’s referendum. And I shall wear the creditors’ loathing with pride.

Yanis Varoufakis who resigned from his position as Finance Minister on Monday.

With relations already frosty, Varoufakis infuriated Greece’s European partners last week when he accused creditors of using “terrorism” against the Greek people to intimidate them into accepting more austerity. In a statement, Varoufakis said he had been “made aware” that some members of the eurozone considered him unwelcome at meetings of finance ministers, “an idea the prime minister judged to be potentially helpful to him in reaching an agreement”. He also warned that the referendum result – which saw over 60 percent of Greeks vote to reject the austerity measures demanded by its international creditors – “comes with a large price tag attached… like all struggles for democratic rights”.

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