Greece's former Finance Minister and influential progressive politician Yanis Varoufakis was attacked on the streets of Athens on Friday night. He was taken to hospital with a bloody and broken nose.
Varoufakis was eating at a restaurant in the Greek capital when twenty men started hurling insults towards him. He then approached the men, who subsequently threw him to the ground before kicking and punching him.
After being released from hospital, the Greek politician stated on Twitter that those who attacked him were "thugs for hire" and not left-wing activists as had been rumoured.
According to Varoufakis, his attackers had accused him of having sold out Greece to the troika formed by the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund during the eurozone crisis.
During his time as Greece's Finance Minister, Varoufakis was involved in heated confrontations with the three-headed entity. He resigned from his position in 2015 in opposition to the government's decision to accept the EU's bailout demands.
