Jean – Claude Trichet, who was president of the European Central Bank when it was decided that ECB would support Greece by buying up the first Greek bonds, demonstrated suddenly an aggressive and judgmental attitude towards Greece, stating that: “If you don’t like austerity, don’t ask for help…”

Speaking to Greek journalists in Brussels, Mr. Trichet said that “austerity policies are required to pave the road that leads to balance. If the Greeks had respected the Stability and Growth Pact, there would be no need for austerity policies. In order to receive help, you had to implement these policies.”

“In any case,” he said referring to all the countries that had been under the supervision of the troika, “If you did not like it, you shouldn’t have asked for help…”

Trichet also defended the policy that was followed when he was head of the ECB: “We made decisions that strengthened the Stability Pact and introduced a mechanism of monitoring the competitiveness indicators. Some countries were in crisis because they did not respect the pact, others because they have lost their competitiveness.”