Diem25 in dire straits: Bank pulls the plug on Varoufakis

The left-wing party Diem25 has lost access to its bank account. “Last week, our bank, in all its wisdom, decided to block our account,” Yanis Varoufakis announced on Instagram on Tuesday. The former Greek finance minister and economics professor launched the “Democracy in Europe 2025 Movement” in Berlin ten years ago. The left-wing pan-European Diem25 includes parties called Mera25, which were founded in Germany, France, Sweden, Italy and Greece.

“The surprising and unfounded closure of our account – despite having complied with all obligations under the Know Your Customer regulations for banks and being audited by the Belgian authorities – is a clear and immediate threat to European democracy,” Varoufakis told taz.

Varoufakis rose to prominence when he was appointed finance minister by then Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in 2015. The declared opponent of EU austerity measures resigned a few months later after the Syriza government accepted the austerity packages.

“Know Your Customer” refers to legally prescribed testing procedures that banks use to ensure who is behind the accounts and whether the business relationship and transactions are plausible. This is intended to prevent money laundering, the financing of terrorism, fraud or the evasion of sanctions.

The name of the bank in Belgium, where Diem25 has its administrative headquarters, does not currently want to be made public, said Erik Edman, political director of Diem25, to the taz. The association first noticed on October 8th that it had no access to its bank balance.

The bank then announced that it had announced by post weeks in advance that it would be terminating the account in July, but had given a three-month notice period. However, there was never a letter, claims Edman. The bank ignored the following objections. From one day to the next, the movement no longer had access to its money.

“This is an existential crisis for our movement because all of our expenses and salaries have been covered through this account,” Edman said. For the time being, they are trying to cover basic expenses through an emergency donation fund. Opening a new bank account also proved difficult. “Today, far more banks have concerns about the international nature of our organization than when we were founded in 2016.”

The bank itself has so far refused to give reasons for the account closure. “However, after a series of meetings with allies in Belgium who have been affected by similar account blocking measures, a worrying trend appears to be emerging,” Edman said.

Reports about the blocking of accounts of left-wing actors and groups, so-called debanking, are increasing: at the beginning of 2026, the Postbank account of the VVN-BdA (Association of those persecuted by the Nazi regime - Association of Antifascists) was blocked in Berlin-Treptow - a new opening at the Berliner Sparkasse was initially refused without giving reasons after several weeks of checking.

The savings bank later gave in due to public pressure. The case of Rote Hilfe was even more prominent at the end of 2025. The GLS bank had terminated all of the legal aid organization's accounts without notice after the Trump administration had put left-wing activists on a terrorist list who had received legal assistance from Rote Hilfe.

Access to a private bank account is a protected right in the EU. Diem25 calls for this right to be extended to non-profit associations. “Access to banking services must not be used as a means of pressure,” said Edman.