Stiff comments, body language make int'l headlines after Dijessbloeam-Varoufakis appearance

Dijessbloeam: “unilateral actions not the right way forward”

Front pages and extensive reports around the world attempted to decode the words and definitely the “body language” surrounding Jeroen Dijessbloeam’s lightning visit to Athens on Friday, with some playing up the Dutch official’s statement of “unilateral actions are not the right way forward”.

That was the main point of Reuters’ coverage following a tense press briefing by the Eurogroup chief and new Greek FinMin Yanis Varoufakis — one “n” “Yanis”, as per the once globe-trotting and still blog-writing Greek economist.

Reuters reported that the new Greek government will not cooperate any longer with the EC-ECB-IMF “troika” and will not ask for an extension of a bailout program, as precisely announced by Varoufakis.

Long-time Guardian correspondent in Athens Helen Smith’s dispatches almost went viral over the Internet, in fact, as she conveyed the “electric” atmosphere in the hall where the Dijessbloeam-Varoufakis joint statements were held.

The Italian financial daily Il Sole XIX Ore writes “Greece, spars with Germany and the Troika”, while the Le Soir headlined “Tension escalates between Greece and Troika”.