Marxist minister quits and rides off for a beer... His successor? An old boy from Osborne’s school
RIDING off on his motorbike with his wife on the back – and later sipping on a beer – Yanis Varoufakis appeared the picture of calm yesterday.
Hours after resigning as Greece’s finance minister and chief negotiator in discussions with Brussels, the 54-year-old was seen relaxing with friends in a bar in Athens after speeding off from the finance ministry.
Last night Greece appointed an old boy of George Osborne’s school to replace Varoufakis, a self-proclaimed ‘erratic Marxist’ who was as well-known for his casual style as he was for his clashes with EU officials.
Euclid Tsakalotos, who attended private school St Paul’s and then Oxford University, speaks with a distinctive English accent and has been nicknamed the ‘big brain’ of economic policy in the ruling Syriza party.
Syriza insiders hope Mr Tsakalotos will get on better with his European counterparts, with one saying: ‘The fact that he sounds like an aristocrat helps.’
Mr Tsakalotos was born in Holland, but his father moved the family to London. He and Mr Osborne were not at St Paul’s at the same time as Mr Tsakalotos is 11 years older.
Like many British politicians, he studied politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford, where he joined the student wing of
Greece’s communist party. He moved to Greece in the early 90s with his British wife Heather. He then joined Synaspismos, a forerunner of Syriza, and was elected to parliament in 2012.
Mr Varoufakis quit via Twitter yesterday with a swipe at his negotiating opponents.
‘I shall wear the creditors’ loathing with pride,’ he said. Mr Tsakalotos told a press conference: ‘I cannot hide from you that I am quite nervous. I am not taking on this job at the easiest point in Greek history.’
He added: ‘We want [to strive] for something better...for all these people who have been suffering so much.’