🔗 Share this article

Within his freshly published autobiography, titled Ithaki, the ex- premier Alexis Tsipras does not hold back while he revisits the turbulent period during Greece's debt drama.

An Unconventional Choice

As per Tsipras's account, Tsipras appointed that unorthodox economist Yanis Varoufakis as the treasury head mainly due to the latter's international reputation along with his “extremely attractive” skills when it came to communicator.

“He was, truthfully, more like a personality and less of an economic expert,” recalled Tsipras.

Conflicting Priorities

Tsipras suggests that his finance chief possessed his own agenda which involved promoting his books as well as testing out his own game theories on the nation rather than genuinely advocating the country's economic stability.

Tsipras wrote that the negotiations to avoid bankruptcy were “not just a method to secure a better deal for the country. They were an experiment, an historic chance to prove the validity of his ideas.”

Critical Negotiations

Amid tense discussions, Greece found itself perilously close to exiting the eurozone.

On the line was both the country's destiny but also the severe cutbacks demanded in return for bailout funds from international creditors.

Unsuccessful Options

Efforts to find financing elsewhere, such as an urgent plea to Russia to buy Greek bonds, went unanswered.

Assisting the indebted country would be tantamount to tossing cash into the garbage, the Russian leader is reputed to have told his Greek counterpart during their meeting.

Public Vote and U-Turn

That summer, those punitive bailout terms were subjected to a public vote, a move which threw Europe into deeper crisis of identity.

Even though the vote was carried resoundingly by voters who opposed austerity, the prime minister was forced to reject its outcome and negotiate a rescue deal from creditors that turned out to be more severe.

Breaking Point

Tsipras revealed how he began to doubt Varoufakis relatively soon.

“He was the face of the talks, the figure who drew media attention, who graced the covers of magazines the world over … he gave the impression he was enjoying his new role.”

After the minister proposed a backup strategy involving creating a secondary currency as well as issuing coupons to pensioners, the leader said he realised it was the end questioning Varoufakis: “Are you serious?”

Enduring Rebuke

In the memoir, Tsipras asserts that his former ally demonstrated himself “unsuitable for a deal that required complex and delicate handling.”

He also wrote how Varoufakis's confrontational approach left him more and more alone among peers, put Greece at risk, while helped hardliners that were advocating Grexit.

This account of history has been met with fury along with shock in some quarters, whereas the former minister has so far maintained a deafening silence regarding these claims.