In a newly released personal account, titled Ithaki, the ex- premier Tsipras does not hold back while he reflects on that turbulent period during Greece's financial crisis.
An Unconventional Choice
In Tsipras's recollections, Tsipras selected the maverick academic Varoufakis to be the treasury head mainly due to the latter's global profile and Varoufakis's very persuasive skills when it came to speaker.
“In reality, he was, in reality, more of a celebrity rather than an economist,” recalled Tsipras.
Conflicting Priorities
The former leader alleges that his finance chief had his own motives which involved advancing his books as well as experimenting with his economic models on the nation rather than truly fighting for its economic stability.
Tsipras wrote that those discussions to prevent bankruptcy became “not just a way to secure improved terms for Greece. They were an experiment, an historic chance to prove the validity of his ideas.”
High-Stakes Negotiations
Amid volatile discussions, Greece found itself dangerously close to leaving the eurozone.
At stake lay not only Greece's destiny and the punishing cutbacks demanded in return for rescue loans from international creditors.
Unsuccessful Options
Efforts to find funds from other sources, such as an urgent plea to Russia to buy Greek bonds, fell on stony ground.
Assisting Greece was tantamount to throwing money into the garbage, Putin reportedly told his Greek counterpart in Moscow.
Referendum and Reversal
That summer, the harsh conditions were subjected to a public vote, an action which plunged the EU into further existential crisis.
Although the referendum was won resoundingly by those who opposed austerity, Tsipras was forced to reject its outcome and negotiate a bailout package with creditors which turned out to be more severe.
Breaking Point
Tsipras revealed how he began to doubt his finance minister quite early on.
“He was the face of the talks, the figure who attracted publicity, who graced the covers of publications the world over … he gave the impression he was enjoying the spotlight.”
After Varoufakis proposed a contingency plan that included establishing a secondary currency as well as distributing vouchers to retirees, Tsipras said he realised that it was the end and asked him: “Can you be serious?”
Lasting Rebuke
Within the memoir, Tsipras asserts how his former ally demonstrated himself to be “unsuitable for a deal that required intricate and delicate management.”
Tsipras also wrote that Varoufakis's aggressive approach made him increasingly isolated among peers, endangered the country, and assisted hawks that were advocating a Greek exit from the euro.
This retelling of history has provoked fury and shock in some quarters, while the former minister has so far kept a conspicuous quiet on the matter.
