🔗 Share this article

Within his newly released memoir, titled Ithaki, the ex- leader Tsipras does not hold back while he revisits that chaotic era during Greece's debt drama.

An Unconventional Choice

As per the ex-PM's version, Tsipras appointed that maverick academic Varoufakis to be the treasury head primarily due to his worldwide fame along with Varoufakis's highly compelling abilities as a communicator.

“He was, in reality, more like a celebrity rather than an economist,” recalled Tsipras.

Clashing Priorities

Tsipras suggests how Varoufakis possessed his own agenda that involved promoting Varoufakis's books as well as testing out his theories on Greece instead of genuinely fighting for its economic stability.

He wrote how those talks to stave off bankruptcy were “not only a method of achieving a better deal for the country. They became an experiment, an historic opportunity to demonstrate the validity of Varoufakis's theories.”

High-Stakes Talks

During tense negotiations, Greece found itself dangerously close to exiting the single currency area.

At stake lay not only the country's destiny and the punishing austerity policies demanded in exchange for bailout funds from international creditors.

Unsuccessful Options

Efforts to secure financing from other sources, such as a desperate appeal to Russia to purchase Greek bonds, fell on stony ground.

Helping Greece was equivalent to tossing cash in the trash-can, the Russian leader reportedly told Tsipras in Moscow.

Public Vote Followed by Reversal

In July 2015, those punitive bailout terms were put to a popular referendum, an action that threw the EU into deeper existential crisis.

Even though the vote was won resoundingly by voters who opposed the cuts, the prime minister had little option but to ignore the result then agree to a bailout package from creditors that proved to be more severe.

Final Straw

The ex-PM claimed that he began to doubt his finance minister quite early on.

“Varoufakis was the public image of negotiation, the man who drew media attention, who graced the covers of magazines globally … it seemed he relished the spotlight.”

After Varoufakis proposed a backup strategy that included creating a secondary currency and distributing vouchers to pensioners, the leader knew that it was game over questioning Varoufakis: “Is this for real?”

Enduring Rebuke

Within the book, the author asserts how Varoufakis demonstrated himself “unsuitable for a deal demanding complex and delicate management.”

He further wrote that Varoufakis's confrontational approach left him increasingly isolated with colleagues, put Greece at risk, and assisted hawks who were advocating a Greek exit from the euro.

This account of events has provoked fury along with stunned disbelief in some quarters, whereas the former minister has so far maintained a conspicuous quiet on the matter.