In a recently unveiled autobiography, titled Ithaki, the former premier Tsipras pulls no punches while he examines that chaotic period during Greece's financial crisis.
A Controversial Choice
In the ex-PM's version, Tsipras selected the unorthodox economist Varoufakis as his finance minister mainly because of his worldwide fame along with Varoufakis's “extremely attractive” skills when it came to speaker.
“In reality, he was, actually, more like a personality and less of an economist,” wrote the 51-year-old.
Conflicting Agendas
The former leader suggests how his finance chief had a personal agenda that involved promoting his books and testing out his economic models using Greece instead of genuinely advocating its economic stability.
He noted how the negotiations to avoid bankruptcy became “not only a method of achieving a better deal for the country. They were an experiment, a monumental chance to prove the truth of his economic theories.”
High-Stakes Negotiations
During rollercoaster negotiations, Greece found itself perilously on the brink of exiting the single currency area.
At stake lay both the country's destiny and those punishing austerity policies required in return for financial aid by international creditors.
Unsuccessful Options
Attempts to find financing elsewhere, such as a desperate appeal to Russia to buy Greek government bonds, were rejected.
Helping Greece was equivalent to tossing cash in the trash-can, Putin is reputed to have informed Tsipras during their meeting.
Public Vote and Reversal
That summer, those excoriating conditions were put to a popular referendum, an action which threw the EU into a further existential crisis.
Even though the vote was carried decisively by voters against the cuts, the prime minister had little option to ignore the result and agree to a bailout package with foreign lenders that proved to be more severe.
Breaking Point
Tsipras claimed how he began to doubt Varoufakis relatively soon.
“Varoufakis was the public image of negotiation, the figure who drew media attention, who appeared on the front pages of magazines the world over … it seemed he was enjoying the spotlight.”
After the minister outlined a backup strategy involving creating a secondary currency as well as issuing vouchers to pensioners, the leader said he realised it was game over and asked Varoufakis: “Can you be serious?”
Lasting Rebuke
Within the memoir, the author concludes that Varoufakis had proved himself “unfit for a deal that required complex and sensitive management.”
He also wrote how his confrontational approach left him increasingly isolated among peers, endangered the country, and assisted hawks who were advocating Grexit.
The account of events has been met with anger along with shock in some quarters, whereas the former minister has so far kept a deafening silence regarding these claims.
