Within his freshly published personal account, called Ithaki, the former prime minister Tsipras spares no criticism while he revisits that chaotic era during Greece's economic turmoil.
An Unconventional Choice
As per the ex-PM's recollections, he chose the unorthodox academic Yanis Varoufakis as the finance minister primarily due to the latter's worldwide fame along with his highly compelling abilities as a public orator.
“He was, actually, more of a personality and less of an economic expert,” wrote the 51-year-old.
Clashing Agendas
Tsipras suggests that his finance chief had a personal agenda that included advancing his books and experimenting with his own game theories on the nation instead of truly fighting for its financial survival.
Tsipras wrote that those negotiations to stave off insolvency were “not just a way of achieving a better deal for Greece. They were an experiment, an historic opportunity to demonstrate the validity of his theories.”
High-Stakes Negotiations
During tense negotiations, Greece came dangerously close to exiting the single currency area.
On the line was both Greece's future and the severe austerity policies required in return for rescue loans by international creditors.
Failed Options
Efforts to secure financing from other sources, including an urgent plea to the Kremlin to buy Greek government bonds, were rejected.
Helping Greece was equivalent to tossing cash into the garbage, the Russian leader reportedly told his Greek counterpart in Moscow.
Referendum Followed by Reversal
That summer, those punitive conditions were put to a public vote, an action which threw the EU into further existential crisis.
Even though the vote was carried resoundingly by those who opposed the cuts, the prime minister was forced but to reject its outcome and agree to a rescue deal from creditors that proved to be tougher.
Breaking Point
The ex-PM revealed that he started questioning his finance minister relatively soon.
“He was the public image of the talks, the man who drew publicity, who appeared on the front pages of magazines globally … he gave the impression he was enjoying his new role.”
After Varoufakis outlined a contingency plan that included creating a secondary currency as well as issuing coupons to pensioners, the leader said he realised that it was the end and asked him: “Can you be serious?”
Lasting Rebuke
Within the book, the author concludes how his former ally demonstrated himself “unfit for a deal that required intricate and delicate management.”
He further wrote that Varoufakis's confrontational approach made him more and more alone with colleagues, endangered the country, while assisted hardliners who were pushing for Grexit.
The account of history has provoked fury along with stunned disbelief among certain groups, while Varoufakis has maintained a deafening silence regarding these claims.
