Ex-PM Tsipras Asserts Yanis Varoufakis Was ‘Unsuitable’ as Greek Finance Minister During Financial Meltdown

In a newly released memoir, called Ithaki, the former prime minister Tsipras does not hold back as he examines that chaotic era of Greece's economic turmoil.

An Unconventional Choice

According to the ex-PM's recollections, Tsipras chose that unorthodox academic Varoufakis to be the finance minister mainly due to his worldwide fame along with his highly compelling abilities when it came to speaker.

“He was, truthfully, more like a personality rather than an economic expert,” wrote Tsipras.

Conflicting Priorities

The former leader suggests that his finance chief had a personal motives which involved promoting his books and experimenting with his own economic models on Greece instead of truly advocating the country's economic stability.

Tsipras wrote that those negotiations to stave off insolvency became “not just a method to secure a better deal for Greece. They were an experiment, an historic chance to demonstrate the truth of his economic theories.”

High-Stakes Talks

During rollercoaster discussions, the country came dangerously on the brink of exiting the single currency area.

On the line lay not only the country's destiny and those harsh cutbacks required in return for financial aid from international creditors.

Failed Options

Attempts to secure financing elsewhere, such as an urgent appeal to the Kremlin to purchase Greek bonds, fell on stony ground.

Assisting Greece would be tantamount to throwing money in the trash-can, Putin reportedly informed Tsipras during their meeting.

Referendum and U-Turn

That summer, those punitive bailout terms were subjected to a popular referendum, an action which threw the EU into a further crisis of identity.

Although the vote was won decisively by those who opposed austerity, the prime minister was forced but to ignore the result then negotiate a rescue deal with creditors that proved to be tougher.

Breaking Point

The ex-PM claimed that he started questioning Varoufakis relatively soon.

“He was the face of the talks, the figure who drew media attention, who appeared on the front pages of publications globally … it seemed he relished the spotlight.”

After Varoufakis proposed a backup strategy involving establishing a secondary currency as well as distributing coupons to pensioners, Tsipras knew that it was game over questioning him: “Are you serious?”

Enduring Rebuke

In the book, Tsipras asserts that his former ally had proved himself “unsuitable for a deal that required complex and delicate management.”

Tsipras also claimed how his confrontational approach made him more and more alone among peers, put Greece at risk, while assisted hawks that were pushing for Grexit.

The retelling of history has provoked fury and shock in some quarters, whereas the former minister has so far maintained a deafening silence on the matter.