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At a time when the talks between Athens and its creditors are in the most critical phase, which Minister of Finance Yanis Varoufakis himself has recognized, the government has launched a series of attacks against top banker Yiannis Stournaras.

It all started from a publication of the government-friendly newspaper Efimerida ton Sintakton, which reveals the contents of an email sent by the Bank of Greece to a famous journalist. According to the newspaper, it contains information that undermines the government's actions in the negotiations with the creditors.

In a subsequent series of publications, SYRIZA’s semi-official newspaper Avgi has expressed its clear position that the governor of the Bank of Greece is responsible for the disclosure of the email. In addition, it states that Yiannis Stournaras is pursuing a political career and accuses him of "not supporting the national cause."

In this situation, more than a few representatives of SYRIZA and the government have directly attacked the governor of the Bank of Greece while others insist on removing him from office.

The most violent were the attacks on the part of the parliamentary representative of SYRIZA and former editor of Avgi Nikos Phyllis and Minister for Productive Reconstructions and Energy Panagiotis Lafazanis. Phyllis initiated the scenarios that Yiannis Stournaras was preparing to be engaged in politics and Lafazanis defined his actions as "crimes" and "scandals".

The European Central Bank is not late in reacting. It stands firmly behind Yiannis Stournaras through a publication in the international agency Bloomberg, sending a message to the Greek government. The officials at the European Central Bank stress that they are very concerned by the criticism to which the governor of the Bank of Greece has been subjected, and that the attacks against him question the independence of the central financial institution. In addition, Frankfurt warns that if the conflict deepens, the European Central Bank will issue a formal warning to the Greek government.

It is significant that the European Central Bank and its Governor Mario Draghi are the "major players" in solving the problem of the lack of liquidity in Greece’s economy. Currently it is the only institution providing financing for Greece through the Emergency Liquidity Assistance ELA.