In a freshly published autobiography, named Ithaki, the former prime minister Alexis Tsipras pulls no punches while he revisits the chaotic period of Greece's debt drama.
According to Tsipras's version, he chose the unorthodox economist Varoufakis as his treasury head mainly due to the latter's worldwide fame along with Varoufakis's “extremely attractive” skills when it came to speaker.
“In reality, he was, truthfully, more of a star rather than an economist,” wrote the 51-year-old.
Tsipras claims how Varoufakis had a personal agenda that involved promoting Varoufakis's publications and experimenting with his own economic models on the nation rather than genuinely advocating its economic stability.
He wrote that those discussions to stave off bankruptcy were “not just a way of achieving a better deal for Greece. They became a test, an historic chance to demonstrate the truth of Varoufakis's theories.”
Amid tense discussions, Greece found itself dangerously close to leaving the eurozone.
At stake lay not only Greece's future and the punishing cutbacks demanded in return for rescue loans from foreign lenders.
Attempts to secure funds from other sources, including an urgent appeal to Russia to buy Greek bonds, fell on stony ground.
Helping Greece was equivalent to throwing money in the trash-can, Putin reportedly told his Greek counterpart during their meeting.
That summer, the punitive bailout terms were put to a popular referendum, a move that threw the EU into a deeper existential crisis.
Although the vote was won decisively by those against austerity, Tsipras was forced but to ignore the result and negotiate a rescue deal with creditors that proved to be tougher.
Tsipras claimed that he began to doubt his finance minister quite early on.
“He was the face of the talks, the man who attracted media attention, who appeared on the covers of magazines globally … he gave the impression he relished the spotlight.”
When the minister outlined a backup strategy that included creating a parallel currency and distributing coupons to pensioners, Tsipras knew that it was game over and asked Varoufakis: “Are you serious?”
In the book, Tsipras asserts how his former ally demonstrated himself “unsuitable for a deal demanding intricate and delicate handling.”
Tsipras also wrote that Varoufakis's aggressive approach made him increasingly isolated with colleagues, endangered the country, while assisted hawks who were advocating a Greek exit from the euro.
This retelling of history has been met with anger along with stunned disbelief among certain groups, whereas the former minister has so far maintained a deafening silence regarding these claims.
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