15.02.2016
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Introduction: 

The Crash of the EU ist already going on, says Varoufakis. The Schengen system of open borders is collapsing. Politicians are on the one side demanding Turkey to open its borders for refugees coming from Syria while on the other side they push Greece to shut down its borders to Turkey. "What do they want to do? Do they want the Greek Navy to shoot refugees when they are coming in? Or do they want a member state of the European Union to create a concentration camp for refugees, because we don't want them to go to Paris?" The impression of a "disintegrating European Union" is also dominating the economic situation. The banking sector of the EU is fragmented and driven by destructive imbalances. "Our politicians are calling something a banking union which is not a banking union. So we have a subterfuge. We have a campaign of disinformation about what we're doing. Orwellian. We take a disunion in banks and we call it union. And people out there think, 'Oh, now we have a banking union'. We don't! So this is the disintegration in real-time in front of us."

Guests: 

Yanis Varoufakis: Former Finance Minister of Greece and Co-Founder of "Democracy in Europe Movement 2025" (DiEM25)

Transcript: 

David Goessmann: You're saying that without the EU institutions we are facing a crash. Probably in the next years. What underpins this pessimistic forecast? And what should happen to prevent that?

Yanis Varoufakis: It's not a forecast. It's an observation. Look at it, it's happening. You want to see what's happening to Schengen? It's collapsing. When I hear responsible politicians saying that Turkey should open it's borders to the Aleppo refugees from Syria, but Greece should close down it's borders with Turkey – I think "Oh my god. What has happened to Europe?!". What do they want to do? Do they want the Greek Navy to shoot refugees when they are coming in? Or do they want a member state of the European Union to create a concentration camp for refugees, because we don't want them to go to Paris? This is simply the sights and sounds of a disintegrating European Union.
On the economic front – I could mention many fronts – let's say I were to give you 10 million Euros. As a present. And I gave you the option of having them in a Frankfurt bank account or on a Portuguese bank account. Would you have a preference? I bet you would. You'd want them in Frankfurt; it would be safer. In the United States, or in Britain, if you give someone 10 million dollars or pounds, they don't care which bank account you put it in, because they're worth the same. Because they have a genuine banking union. We don't have banking union. And the worst thing is: Our politicians are calling something a banking union which is not a banking union. So we have a subterfuge. We have a campaign of disinformation about what we're doing. Orwellian. We take a disunion in banks and we call it union. And people out there think "oh, now we have a banking union". We don't! So this is the disintegration in real-time in front of us. And what DiEM is about is trying to get people together. Throughout Europe. Independently of our nationality, political party affiliation, and say: folks, we have a serious problem here. Do we want to do something about this? Or are we going to be answerable to history. In 10, 20 years time our children say to us: "Why didn't you do something to stop, to prevent this disintegration?".

David Goessmann: Thanks a lot, Yanis Varoufakis.

Yanis Varoufakis: Thank you.