Dutch Finance Minister target of Greek letter bomb

Eurogroup chairman and departing Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem was one target of eight letter bombs intercepted and defused in Athens on Monday, his spokesperson confirmed to ANP on Tuesday. He made no further comment.

The explosive letters were noticed at a post office in Athens on Monday and disarmed. No one was injured. According to Greek sources, the letter bombs were intended for senior EU officials involved in negotiations on financial support for Greece. In addition to Dijsselbloem, this also included EU commissioner Pierre Moscovici, former Greek Minister Gikas Hardouvelis and Klaus Regling, the German boss of EU support fund ESM.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte called it appalling that people still send letter bombs. Deputy Prime Minister Lodewijk Asscher, and fellow PvdA member, called it "very serious" and "horrible".

Previously two letter bombs were sent from Greece unnoticed. On Wednesday last week the German Finance Ministry intercepted one addressed to Dijsselbloem's German colleague Wolfgang Schauble. It was disarmed. On Thursday a worker in the IMF office in Paris was injured when she opened the other letter bomb.