Greek FinMin admits taping Eurogroup meetings

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis admitted on Sunday that he has taped Eurogroup meetings, criticizing European institutions for "secrecy" and "gullible press" for not helping democracy in Europe.

The revelation in international media reports last week that Varoufakis had taped the April 24 Eurogroup meeting in Riga during which according to rumors he was strongly criticized by his counterparts for his negotiating style, caused an uproar within Greece and abroad in the past few days.

On Sunday through his personal blog and twitter account the Greek official told "the truth about Riga".

He repeated that he was never verbally attacked by other European ministers and explained that he often records meetings since no minutes are taken to give a detailed briefing to the Greek Prime Minister.

"In the absence of minutes, I often record my interventions and responses on my mobile phone, especially when I adlib them. The purpose is, naturally, so as to be able to recount my exact phrases and, accordingly, to brief my Prime Minister, the Cabinet, Parliament etc. on precisely what I said," Varoufakis wrote in his blog.

The Greek minister accused media of depicting him "as a 'spoof' who had "betrayed" the confidentiality of the Eurogroup," after reporting "lies and innuendos concerning both what my colleagues allegedly said to me."

"The public, under that wall of disinformation, became convinced that, during the 24th April Riga Eurogroup meeting, my fellow ministers called me insulting names ("time waster", "gambler", "amateur" etc. were some of the reported insults), that I lost my temper, and that, as a result, my Prime Minister later "sidelined" me from the negotiations," Varoufakis wrote.

"No one has respected the confidentiality of those meetings more than I - even during the days and weeks I was being provoked by the news media's false, personal attacks regarding those meetings," he said.

"Perhaps it is time we became a little more skeptical about the journalism on which we rely for information. And perhaps we should query European institutions in which decisions of monumental importance are made, on behalf of Europe's citizenry, but in which minutes are neither taken nor published. Secrecy and a gullible press do not augur well for Europe's democracy," Varoufakis stressed. Endit