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Friday, June 24, 2016

VAROUFAKIS: Brexit means that the 'EU’s disintegration is now running at full speed'

[Yanis Varoufakis] Former Greek finance minister and outspoken political activist Yanis Varoufakis believes that the historic vote to leave the European Union by the United Kingdom is a harbinger of the end of the EU. Writing in a post on the blog OpenDemocracy on Friday, Varoufakis said that while he is skeptical of the EU's current structure, the decision to exit the group by Britain was a mistake. "OUT won because the EU establishment have made it impossible, through their anti-democratic reign (not to mention the asphyxiation of weaker countries like Greece), for the people of Britain to imagine a democratic EU," wrote Varoufakis. "Our radical IN campaign was thus defeated." Varoufakis had been campaigning for the "Remain" camp for some time, arguing that change should come from inside the EU rather than leaving it altogether. However, Varoufakis has been critical of the Union's leadership for some time and believes their inability to allow for the "voices of democrats" lead to the decision by British voters. Varoufakis is best known for his own clash with the EU establishment during the Greek credit crisis in 2015, but has been an advocate for European cooperation for some time. One of his efforts towards that goal was forming the group DiEM25. The group's goals are to reform the EU and have a pan-European parliament established by 2025. Clearly, the Brexit appears to be a setback for such goals, but Varoufakis said he is not discouraged. "DiEM25 regrets that the British people chose to leave the EU," he wrote on OpenDemocracy. "But at the same time, DiEM25 welcomes the British people’s determination to tackle the diminution of democratic sovereignty caused by the gross de-politicization of political decisions and the consequent democratic deficit in the EU." Varoufakis also took the chance to criticize what he called the "business-as-usual" ideas of politicians that have contributed to the "loss of EU’s legitimacy, integrity and soul." READ THE FULL OP-ED AT OPENDEMOCRACY» SEE ALSO: BREXIT HAS EVERYONE SCARED OF A RECESSION Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: YANIS VAROUFAKIS: Brexit won't help Britain regain sovereignty


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.businessinsider.com