Yanis Varoufakis tells Al Jazeera Brexit will “speed up” the EU’s “disintegration”

Yanis Varoufakis, former finance minister of Greece, speaks with UpFront:

Declares chances are “slim” that Jeremy Corbyn will become prime minister of the UK

Says “I cannot see Italy remaining in the eurozone for very long” because of the “epidemic” in the eurozone

Claims Brexit will “speed up” the EU’s “disintegration”

(Washington, D.C., 9th February) - In an interview with Al Jazeera English’s current affairs show UpFront, Yanis Varoufakis, the former Greek finance minister, described the eurozone’s financial problems as an “epidemic”.

“The way we’re going I cannot see Italy remaining in the eurozone for very long,” Varoufakis told UpFront host Mehdi Hasan.

“When you allow an epidemic to start spreading from a place like Greece to Spain…to Ireland, then eventually it gets to a place like Italy,” he added.

Varoufakis, who served as finance minister during the Greek debt crisis in 2015, also accused the ‘Troika’ - the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank - of making an example of Greece.

“They were only interested in crushing our government,” Varoufakis said. “Why? Only because they wanted to use this crushing of our government, of the Greek Spring, of the Athens Spring as a morality tale by which to frighten, to scare, Spaniards, Irish, Italian, and ultimately French voters from getting ideas that they can elect a government that will contest the powers of the Troika.”

During the interview, Varoufakis also commented on the harm that he believes Brexit will do to both the UK and the EU. “The European Union is not a club,” he said. “It’s a lot more than that, and it is at an advanced stage of disintegration. Brexit is going to speed up that disintegration.”

When asked to give his opinion on whether Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn - who he is rumoured to have advised on economic policy in the past - could ever become prime minister of the UK, the left-wing Greek economist responded: “The chances that he will become prime minister any time soon in the United Kingdom are slim.

“That is mainly because of the deep divisions within the Labour Party,” Varoufakis added.

See an excerpt of this interview here: http://aje.io/g4qu

Note to Editors

·       This UpFront interview with Yanis Varoufakis air Friday February 10th at 19:30GMT.

·       The full show will be available through this link: www.aljazeera.com/upfront from 19:30GMT onwards.

·       If using quotes please credit Al Jazeera English and UpFront and please add this link to online copywww.aljazeera.com/upfront

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