Former European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has claimed a European Union finance minister once suggested selling the Acropolis of Athens during Greece’s debt crisis to help repay the country’s debt.
Speaking in the Skai TV documentary Sto Xiliosto, Juncker said the remark was made during a Eurogroup meeting amid the height of the financial crisis, when Greece faced growing pressure from European partners over its economic situation.
“I remember in the Eurogroup meetings that some finance ministers were proposing to sell the Acropolis to get money,” Juncker said, adding that the comment came from a female minister. “I said … ‘shut up.’”
Juncker, who chaired the Eurogroup between 2005 and 2013, did not reveal the identity of the minister or specify when the exchange took place.
He said the incident reflected how Greece’s credibility suffered after it admitted to misreporting deficit figures before the 2009 crisis.
“It was a really big mistake,” he said. “Greece after having acknowledged that they were leading others in error were no longer trusted. That was the main problem. And so everyone could say about Greece whatever he wanted to say.”
Source: Ekathimerini.
