Leftwing Alliance Led by Yanis Varoufakis Loses Access to Bank Account

DiEM25, a pan-European leftwing political movement co-founded by former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, says a Belgian bank abruptly closed its account on 8 October, without warning or an explanation. The organisation has not identified the bank, citing legal reasons. Its spokesperson says the bank also rejected a request for more time, leaving DiEM25 unable to access tens of thousands of euros in small monthly donations from supporters. The group says it cannot determine whether the decision was politically motivated, but reports hearing from other Belgian organisations that progressive groups may be disproportionately affected by account closures.

The loss threatens DiEM25’s ability to pay salaries, social security contributions and rent for its Belgian office; the movement has two staff there. It has launched an emergency fundraiser to meet immediate costs and is seeking another Belgian bank. Varoufakis suggested in a video that the closure might reflect the group’s opposition to powerful interests and its position on genocide, while acknowledging that it could not know the bank’s motives. Founded in 2016, DiEM25 has about 192,000 members and affiliated parties in Greece, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. Varoufakis previously served as an MP for the Greek party Mera25, which has described a separate prosecution against him as politically motivated.