New
Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos Thrown Into the Debt Crisis
Hot Seat
Oxford-educated
economist has been leading negotiations with lenders since April
By STELIOS BOURAS
NEKTARIA STAMOULI
July 6, 2015 4:08
p.m. ET /
http://www.wsj.com/articles/new-greek-finance-minister-tsakalotos-thrown-into-the-debt-crisis-hot-seat-1436213175?mod=e2fb
Greece’s new
finance minister, Euclid Tsakalotos, will have to hit the ground
running Tuesday in a race to save the country from bankruptcy and
possibly crashing out of the eurozone.
Mr. Tsakalotos is
well versed on what is being asked of him but his role may be limited
given that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras personally oversees
negotiations with international creditors.
Mr. Tsakalotos, a
55-year-old Oxford-educated economist, has been in charge of the
country’s team negotiating with lenders since April, when the Greek
prime minister reshuffled the talks team and effectively sidelined
Yanis Varoufakis, who stepped down from the helm of the finance
ministry Monday.
Born in Rotterdam,
Mr. Tsakalotos attended St Paul’s School in London before studying
politics, philosophy and economics at the University of Oxford. He
later completed a master’s at the University of Sussex, and has a
Ph.D. from Oxford. He taught at the University of Kent and Athens
University of Economics and Business. Since 2010, he has been
professor of Economics at the National and Kapodistrian University of
Athens.
He has written or
co-written six books, the most recent of which seeks to debunk the
reputed causes of Greece’s economic turmoil.
In his new post,
he’s likely to demonstrate his numerous differences with his
predecessor.
Mr. Tsakalotos is a
seen as a low-key official, less charismatic than Mr. Varoufakis.
Ideologically, he is more left than Mr. Varoufakis and is also
perceived as being a tough negotiator. He is in favor of keeping the
country in the euro area.
After being sworn in
late Monday, he will have no time to adjust to his new job. On
Tuesday, he travels to Brussels for a meeting of eurozone ministers
to discuss the state of play in Greece.
“There are not
many choices for Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras if he wanted someone
that he could slot in right away,” said Dimitris Keridis, an
associate professor of international politics at Panteion University
in Athens. “Mr. Tsakalotos knows the issues.”
Mr. Tsakalotos isn't
a newcomer to party politics. He has been elected three times as a
member of Parliament with Syriza and is a member of the party’s
powerful central committee.
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