The real sins of Varoufakis: why Greece is being punished for refusing to play by the Eurogroup’s rules

Talks continued through the night in Brussels, with Eurozone leaders eventually reaching an agreement on Greece. Christopher Bickerton writes that while negotiations were always likely to be tough, the original discussions between Greece and its creditors did not break down because of an unbridgeable ideological gap, but instead reflected a reaction to the negotiating tactics pursued by the Greek government under finance minister Yanis Varoufakis. He argues that by breaching the etiquette of the Eurogroup’s decision-making process, Varoufakis generated entrenched opposition among Greece’s creditors for which the country is now being punished.