🔗 Share this article

In a newly released autobiography, called Ithaki, the ex- premier Alexis Tsipras spares no criticism while he examines the chaotic period during Greece's debt drama.

An Unconventional Appointment

As per Tsipras's account, he selected the unorthodox academic Varoufakis as the treasury head mainly due to his worldwide fame and his very persuasive abilities when it came to communicator.

“In reality, he was, actually, more like a celebrity and less of an economist,” recalled the 51-year-old.

Conflicting Agendas

Tsipras alleges how Varoufakis possessed a personal agenda which included advancing his books and experimenting with his game theories on the nation instead of genuinely advocating the country's economic stability.

He explained how those discussions to prevent bankruptcy became “not only a way to secure a better deal for the country. They became a test, an historic opportunity to demonstrate the validity of Varoufakis's theories.”

Critical Negotiations

During tense discussions, Greece came dangerously on the brink of leaving the single currency area.

At stake was both the country's destiny but also those punishing austerity policies required in return for rescue loans from international creditors.

Unsuccessful Alternatives

Attempts to secure financing elsewhere, including a desperate appeal to Russia to buy Greek government bonds, fell on stony ground.

Assisting Greece would be equivalent to tossing cash in the trash-can, Putin is reputed to have informed his Greek counterpart in Moscow.

Public Vote Followed by Reversal

That summer, the punitive bailout terms were put to a popular referendum, a move that plunged the EU into deeper crisis of identity.

Although the vote was won decisively by those against the cuts, the prime minister was forced to ignore the result and agree to a bailout package from foreign lenders that turned out to be more severe.

Breaking Point

Tsipras claimed that he started questioning Varoufakis quite early on.

“He was the public image of the talks, the figure who drew media attention, who appeared on the front pages of magazines globally … he gave the impression he relished the spotlight.”

When the minister outlined a backup strategy involving creating a secondary currency and distributing vouchers to pensioners, the leader said he realised it was game over questioning him: “Is this for real?”

Enduring Rebuke

Within the memoir, Tsipras asserts that his former ally had proved himself to be “unsuitable for an agreement that required complex and delicate management.”

Tsipras further claimed how his aggressive approach left him more and more alone among peers, endangered the country, while assisted hawks who were advocating Grexit.

The account of history has been met with anger along with stunned disbelief in some quarters, whereas the former minister has kept a conspicuous quiet on the matter.