Within his freshly published personal account, titled Ithaki, the former leader Alexis Tsipras spares no criticism while he examines that chaotic era of Greece's financial crisis.
An Unconventional Appointment
According to Tsipras's recollections, Tsipras chose the maverick economist Yanis Varoufakis to be his treasury head largely because of the latter's worldwide fame and his very persuasive abilities when it came to speaker.
“He was, in reality, more like a star and less of an economist,” wrote Tsipras.
Clashing Priorities
The former leader suggests how his finance chief possessed a personal agenda that included promoting his books as well as testing out his own game theories on Greece instead of genuinely advocating its financial survival.
Tsipras explained how those discussions to avoid insolvency became “not only a method of achieving a better deal for the country. They were an experiment, an historic opportunity to prove the validity of his ideas.”
High-Stakes Talks
Amid rollercoaster discussions, the country found itself dangerously on the brink of leaving the eurozone.
At stake lay both the country's future but also those punishing austerity policies required in return for financial aid from international creditors.
Unsuccessful Alternatives
Attempts to find funds from other sources, including a desperate plea to the Kremlin to purchase Greek government bonds, fell on stony ground.
Helping the indebted country was equivalent to throwing money in the trash-can, the Russian leader reportedly told his Greek counterpart during their meeting.
Referendum and Reversal
In July 2015, those harsh conditions were put to a public vote, a move that plunged Europe into a further crisis of identity.
Although the vote was carried decisively by voters against the cuts, Tsipras was forced but to reject its outcome and negotiate a bailout package from creditors that proved to be more severe.
Breaking Point
The ex-PM revealed that he began to doubt Varoufakis quite early on.
“He was the public image of negotiation, the man who drew media attention, who appeared on the front pages of publications globally … it seemed he was enjoying the spotlight.”
When the minister proposed a backup strategy involving establishing a parallel currency and distributing vouchers to pensioners, Tsipras said he realised that it was the end questioning him: “Can you be serious?”
Enduring Rebuke
In the book, Tsipras concludes how his former ally demonstrated himself to be “unsuitable for a deal that required complex and delicate management.”
He also claimed that Varoufakis's aggressive approach left him increasingly isolated with colleagues, endangered the country, while helped hardliners that were advocating Grexit.
The account of events has provoked anger along with shock in some quarters, while Varoufakis has so far kept a deafening silence on the matter.
