He had been accused of being harsh and heartless, but the former Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem, finally admitted that Greece's rescue programs were too long, very tough and with many failures, during an interview with Euronews.
The former Eurogroup chief recalled that during his tenure he was accused of not showing enough compassion.
Dijsselbloem had outraged the people of Greece and his European counterparts after making the front-page with provocative statements to the effect that “you cannot spend money on drinks and women and then ask for help."
His statement was considered insulting to the countries of the South and was perceived as xenophobic and racist. According to Euronews, Dijsselbloem is currently embarrassed about that statement and asked about the issue he says "would have put it differently if he had the opportunity."
Dijsselbloem, who was called upon to manage the crisis of the eurozone and Greece during his term as Eurogroup chief, noted that Greece's exit from the rescue program is good, but did not hide his disappointment, noting that "some people see as a great success the exit of Greece from the rescue programs. But I do not think we can say that because the programs were too long, they were very hard and with many failures."
