Within his freshly published autobiography, called Ithaki, the former prime minister Alexis Tsipras pulls no punches while he reflects on that turbulent era of Greece's economic turmoil.
A Controversial Choice
According to Tsipras's recollections, Tsipras chose the maverick academic Varoufakis as the treasury head largely because of his worldwide fame along with his “extremely attractive” abilities as a public orator.
“In reality, he was, in reality, more like a star rather than an economic expert,” wrote the 51-year-old.
Conflicting Agendas
Tsipras alleges that his finance chief had his own motives that involved advancing Varoufakis's books and testing out his own theories using the nation instead of truly advocating the country's economic stability.
Tsipras noted that the discussions to prevent insolvency became “not only a method of achieving a better deal for the country. They became an experiment, an historic chance to prove the truth of Varoufakis's ideas.”
Critical Talks
During volatile discussions, Greece found itself dangerously on the brink of exiting the single currency area.
At stake was not only the country's destiny and the harsh austerity policies required in exchange for rescue loans by foreign lenders.
Unsuccessful Options
Efforts to secure funds from other sources, including an urgent appeal to the Kremlin to purchase Greek government bonds, fell on stony ground.
Assisting Greece was equivalent to throwing money into the garbage, the Russian leader is reputed to have informed Tsipras during their meeting.
Public Vote and U-Turn
In July 2015, the punitive conditions were put to a public vote, a move which threw Europe into further existential crisis.
Even though the vote was carried resoundingly by those against the cuts, the prime minister had little option but to ignore the result and negotiate a rescue deal from foreign lenders that turned out to be more severe.
Breaking Point
Tsipras revealed how he began to doubt Varoufakis relatively soon.
“Varoufakis was the public image of negotiation, the man who drew publicity, who graced the front pages of publications the world over … it seemed he relished his new role.”
When Varoufakis outlined a backup strategy involving creating a secondary currency as well as issuing vouchers to pensioners, Tsipras knew that it was game over questioning him: “Is this for real?”
Lasting Criticism
Within the memoir, Tsipras concludes that his former ally demonstrated himself “unsuitable for an agreement demanding complex and delicate handling.”
Tsipras further wrote that Varoufakis's confrontational approach left him increasingly isolated among peers, endangered the country, and helped hardliners that were advocating Grexit.
This retelling of history has provoked anger and shock in some quarters, whereas Varoufakis has so far maintained a deafening silence on the matter.
