Former Greek FinMin presents new political movement's manifesto

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Former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis unveiled on Sunday the political manifesto of the new pan-European political movement DiEM25 (Democracy in Europe Movement 25) he will formally launch in Berlin on Tuesday.

"The European Union will be democratized or it will disintegrate," read the title of the document posted on his personal blog and social media accounts.

Varoufakis served in the Left-led government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras from January 2015 until July 2015, holding a key role in -- sometimes stormy -- negotiations with Greece's lenders over the handling of the Greek debt crisis.

He resigned a day after the July 5 referendum on Greece's third bailout since 2010 and a few days before it was sealed in Brussels, blasting "EU's democratic deficit."

His new political platform's key goal is to strengthen democracy within the EU by 2025, according to the manifesto.

Varoufakis and other "committed democrats who decided to act" according to the document, seek among others full transparency in decision-making, for example in live-streaming of European Council, Ecofin and Eurogroup meetings, and a comprehensive plan to address the economic crisis within the eurozone.

The DiEM25 movement also calls for the convention of a Constitutional Assembly of European representatives to work on a European Constitution that should be effective as of 2025.

"The European Union was an exceptional achievement, bringing together in peace European peoples speaking different languages, submersed in different cultures, proving that it was possible to create a shared framework of human rights across a continent that was, not long ago, home to murderous chauvinism, racism and barbarity," read the manifesto.

"Alas, today, a common bureaucracy and a common currency divide European peoples that were beginning to unite despite our different languages and cultures," the document claimed.

"A confederacy of myopic politicians, economically naïve officials and financially incompetent 'experts' submit slavishly to the edicts of financial and industrial conglomerates, alienating Europeans and stirring up a dangerous anti-European backlash... There must be another course," it said. Enditem

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