Yanis Varoufakis, who as Greece's finance minister last year tried to defy German-backed austerity policies, launched a pan-European movement in Berlin on Tuesday that he said aimed to "democratise" the continent. Varoufakis kicked off his "Democracy in Europe Movement 2025" (Diem25) at the historic Volksbuehne theatre, a venue well-known for its leftist political activism and its role in the former East Germany's peaceful revolution. "We've chosen Berlin precisely because nothing can change in a progressive direction without the full participation of Germany in our European endeavours," Varoufakis told a news conference in the packed, red-walled theatre auditorium.