Mario Draghi was left speechless on live television when a feisty veteran journalist accused him of bias during really tense moments at a press conference, following the conclusion of the ECB Governing Council meeting in Nicosia.

Aristidis Vikettos, the Athens News Agency correspondent, apparently miffed that mostly foreign media were asking the questions, (including US and European papers as well as journalists based in Frankfurt) launched into a Greek verbal onslaught against Draghi who was left staring, while cameras were rolling.

Being heard into the mic of a reporter sitting next to him and about to ask a question, Vikettos accused the ECB chief of allowing only what he termed ‘his own journalists’ to take the floor.

‘What are we, decorative elements?’ he is reported to have said, before shouting out ‘You’re biased’ and making a furious exit. It seems that a Draghi aide attempted to translate the goings on to the governor, mumbling something about a protest.

We found out that a number of Cypriot reporters actually shared Vikettos’ views, with a daily paper referring to ‘tension at Draghi press conference, as Cypriot journalists complain of being sidelined’.

Everything happened so fast that the state broadcasters’ cameras missed the stormy exit. Really, come on! There also seemed to be a number of complaints about the quality of translation, with at least one source telling CW that they heard new economic terms being uttered.