Germany has been gripped by claims and counter-claims that footage allegedly showing the new Greek finance minister giving the country a one-fingered salute was faked. A video appeared online earlier this week which appeared to show Yanis Varoufakis holding up his middle finger when giving a speech about Greece's finances and Germany in 2013. Jan Bohermann, host of satirical TV programme 'Neo Magazin Royale' on public broadcast channel ZDF, then admitted that his production team had doctored the footage. But now it has been claimed that his confession itself was faked - sparking confusion as to whether the video really is genuine. Scroll down for video . Faked: Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis was accused of making an offensive gesture with his middle finger during a speech he gave in 2013 about the country's finances, and mentioning Germany . Funny: Mr Varoufakis laughed off the incident on Twitter and said: 'We politicians need you badly' Mr Bohermann said he had been waiting to be asked if he had faked the controversial video, but that no-one had queried their work. He added: 'Sorry Mr Varoufakis, we won't do it again.' But ZDF has now issued a knowing reminder to its audience that 'Neo Magazin Royale' is a satirical programme and ironically tweeted that it would place a 'careful, satire' warning on all future broadcasts. That has sparked a new wave of speculation over whether the video is in fact the real deal and the hashtag #varoufake has been Germany's top trending topic on Twitter throughout today. The footage appears to show Mr Varoufakis raises his finger and saying: 'My proposal was that Greece should simply announce that it is defaulting, just like Argentina did, within the euro, in January 2010, and stick the finger to Germany and say well, you can now solve this problem by yourself.' Mr Varoufakis has repeatedly denied the footage was authentic and  laughed off the incident on Twitter. He sent a message to Mr Bohermann that read: 'Humour, satire & self deprecation are great solvents of blind nationalism. We politicians need you badly.' Mr Varoufakis is continuing to negotiate for a reduction in Greece's debt from the EU and has been doing a whistlestop tour of Europe in a bid to get support for his proposals. Pressure: Yanis Varoufakis has been under increasing pressure to secure a better loan repayment deal for Greece . He has been trying to negotiate favourable terms for the country to pay back its debt to the EU since the election of the radical left-wing party Syriza in January. Alexis Tsipras, leader of the radical left-wing party heading the new coalition, immediately demanded a renegotiation of Greece' £179 billion international bailout deal. The party has continued to describe itself as 'anti-austerity.' Mr Varoufakis last month visited Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne in London to garner support for the move and has been touring several European countries. Greece was likely to run out of money by March if a deal was not reached before the end of February, and a four month extension to the bailout programme for Greece was agreed on a conditional basis. February 9 2010 – Greek Parliament approved first austerity package measures -  included a freeze in the salaries of all government employees, a 10% cut in bonuses, and cuts in overtime workers. March 3 2010 – Parliament passed a new major austerity package. Measures included: Pensions freezes, an increase in sales tax from 19% to 21%, rises in taxes on fuel, cigarettes and alcohol, rises in taxes on luxury goods, cuts in public sector pay. April 23 2010 – George Papandreou, Greece's prime minister formally requested an international bailout. The financing will come from an emergency aid package with the participation of European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund. May 2 2010 – Papandreou, the IMF, and euro-zone leaders agree to a €110 billion bailout package that would take effect over the next three years. The government announced the new austerity package measures. June 29 2011 – Parliament passed the new austerity package. October 20 2011 – Government passed the multi-austerity bill, amid protests and violent riots outside the parliament building. February 12 2012 – Parliament passed new austerity package measures amid violent protests. Many buildings in the centre of Athens burnt during riots. November 5 2012 – Parliament adopted new round of austerity cuts required for Greece to receive the next installment of the international economic bailout. April 28 013 – Parliament approved bill that included cutting 15,000 state jobs . July 17 2013 – Parliament approves new austerity measures . March 30 2014 – Parliament passed new multi-bill needed for Greece to receive its next bailout. April 10 2014 – Greece returned to financial markets, with the issue of 3 billion Eurobonds. December 8 2014 – Greek government announced snap presidential vote. Next day the Greek stock market fell 12.78%, a fall record since 1989. December 29 2014 –Government collapses after failing to elect new president of Greece. January 2015 - Alexis Tsipras of Syriza becomes prime minister and launches attempt to persuade European Union and IMF to ease terms of bail-outs. But there are still concerns the country could run out of money, as Greek officials complain the repayment measures are starving them of money. Earlier this week, Greece had handed over 580m euros to the International Monetary Fund, clearing its debt for this month. But it will face another 350m euros bill tomorrow - generating further tensions between Greece and the eurozone and fears that the country could drop out of the single currency altogether. The allegations come as Varoufakis, an outspoken Marxist economist and blogger, has faced a number of criticisms. He came under fire after taking part in a photo shoot for Paris Match - him and his wife posing with glasses of wine on their roof terrace.
Video appeared to show Yanis Varoufakis making offensive gesture . TV prankster has now admitted doctoring the footage for laughs . Satirical show host Jan Bohermann said: 'Sorry, we won't do it again'
But now it has been claimed his confession was a joke in itself . Finance minister has been trying to negotiate a better debt deal for Greece . Mr Varoufakis has been under pressure from EU to secure repayments .