Greece appoints new Finance Minister to fast-track bailout talks

Athens, July 6

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis resigned on Monday, removing a major obstacle to any deal for keeping Athens in the euro zone after the country rejected the austerity terms of a bailout.

Euclid Tsakalotos was appointed as new Finance Minister. A mild-mannered economist and professor, Tsakalotos had already taken over a prominent role in negotiations with lenders after Varoufakis was sidelined from the talks in April.

Varoufakis, a self-proclaimed "erratic Marxist" economist who infuriated euro zone partners with his unconventional style and hectoring lectures, had campaigned for Sunday's sweeping 'No' vote, accusing Greece creditors of "terrorism".

"I was made aware of a certain preference by some Eurogroup participants, and assorted partners, for my...'absence' from its meetings; an idea that the Prime Minister judged to be potentially helpful to him in reaching an agreement," Varoufakis said.

His sacrifice, after promising Greeks he would win a better deal within a day of their overwhelming referendum vote, suggested leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is determined to try to reach a last-ditch compromise with European leaders.

But if European officials expect Athens' new finance chief, who has already been a key negotiator in drawn-out talks between the Greek government and creditors, to take a softer approach in the substance of new bailout talks, they can think again.

As the brainchild of Syriza's economic thinking, Tsakalotos is likely to redouble efforts to put one of the most contentious issues in the five months of negotiations between Greece and its creditors — debt relief — back on the table. Tsakalotos, who co-authored a book with Greek central bank governor Yannis Stournaras, has been dubbed in leftist jargon a “Revolutionary Europeanist” — an economist who supports EU integration, but not its capitalist principles. — Agencies