Varoufakis blames ‘hired thugs’ for assault

Former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis has blamed "hired thugs" for the assault on him on in an Athens restaurant in which his nose was fractured.

"They were not anarchists, leftists, communists or members of any movement," Varoufakis said in a tweet.

"Thugs for hire they were (and looked it), who clumsily invoked the lie that I sold out to the troika. We shall not let them divide us. Onwards!" he continued.

The assault happened in the Yiantes restaurant on Valtetsiou St., in the central Exarchia district, where Varoufakis was dining with members of his DiEM25 party from all over Europe, his party said.

"A small group of thugs stormed the place shouting aggressively, falsely accusing him of signing off on Greece's bailouts with the troika. Varoufakis stood up to talk to them but they immediately responded with violence, savagely beating him while...