Once again Alexis Tsipras was struggling to make a decision. For hours on July 13, the Greek prime minister and Europe’s leaders had been trying to thrash out a new deal to bail out bankrupt Greece and keep the country in the euro zone.
Now a clean copy of the latest text had been printed, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and European Council President Donald Tusk were satisfied with the terms. So too appeared Tsipras – but he left the room to check the details one more time with colleagues in his leftist party Syriza.
Nearly an hour later he had still not returned. Heads of government and state paced around, fiddling with their phones. The Lithuanian president and Slovenian prime minister said they could wait no longer and left through a backdoor, a diplomat involved in the summit said.
When Tsipras finally reappeared, his response confirmed what Europe’s leaders had suspected for some time: without the full backing of his party, the Greek leader could not commit. The setback reinforced European doubts that Tsipras could control his party.
Friends and associates say the 40-year-old’s calm demeanor belies a man struggling to balance Syriza, Greece’s economic interests and his own leftist ideology.
Tsipras’s strategy going into the bailout talks was to push international partners to the edge, betting they would make concessions to prevent Greece crashing out of the euro zone. In the event, though, he was forced to blink first and then ad-lib his way through the crisis that ensued.
He found himself pressed on the one side by the Germans, who didn’t want to give another penny to prop up Greece, and on the other by his own political party, which opposed the austerity demanded in return for a bailout.
The indecision and delays have cost Greece about 30 billion euros in the last three weeks alone, according to one senior European Union (EU) official. Tsipras’ inability to cut a deal in early July, which forced Greek banks to close their doors and sent the economy plunging, has pushed up the cost of the latest bailout to 86 billion euros, from the 53 billion euros Greece was requesting only a few weeks ago.
Tsipras would not speak to Reuters for this story. A former Syriza colleague who has known Tsipras since he was a teenager and is now with another party said: “He has grown in leaps politically, but his decisions are a result of his fears. Fear that he will be the prime minister who led Greece out of the euro, fear his party will split, and also fear he is betraying the ideology he has fought for and believed in since he was a child.”
Born in 1974 a few days after Greece’s return to democracy following seven years of military dictatorship, Tsipras joined the youth branch of the Communist Party when he was just 14. Three years later he moved to a more liberal-minded splinter group that would later be renamed Syriza.
At 33, Tsipras was president of the Syriza party, the youngest political leader in the history of modern Greece. By 40, with no experience of national government, he was prime minister, elected on the promise of ending austerity but keeping Greece in the euro zone.
Like the prime minister, Tsipras’ team of close advisers had little experience of government or international politics. In large part, members of his inner circle are trusted friends of a similar ideology and age.
His closest confidant is Minister of State Nikos Pappas, two years his junior. Pappas, an economist, was living in Scotland with no plans to return to Greece when Tsipras asked him to join him in 2008.
Tsipras also brought in British-trained economist Yanis Varoufakis, who had been an academic in Britain, Australia and the United States. He offered a way to build bridges with Europe and the United States. “(Tsipras) took him in because he broke some barriers for us,” said a Syriza insider. But Varoufakis was also radical and outspoken. Appointed finance minister after Syriza won power in January, he proved to be less bridge builder and more destroyer as he negotiated with international lenders. He angered many in Europe with his blunt rhetoric and unorthodox ideas.
As negotiations floundered, these two key figures in the Greek government went in different directions. Varoufakis, who would not speak for this story, eventually quit.
Tsipras’ inner team started to discuss the idea of a referendum in April. On June 24, Tsipras met for hours at European Commission headquarters with IMF boss Christine Lagarde, EC President Jean-Claude Juncker, European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi and Eurogroup finance ministers.
Two people familiar with the talks said Tsipras appeared to agree at least twice on terms for a bailout, only to request a time-out to consult with his delegation.
Each time, he returned to the room without his normal smile and said the package was “unacceptable,” causing immense irritation and loss of trust, the two sources said.
In the referendum, Greeks voted against tough bailout terms involving austerity. It was a huge victory for Tsipras, but the sense of elation didn’t last. He sought parliament’s approval to go back to the EU negotiating table and, unsure whether he could hold his government together, reached out to his political rivals for support.
During a five-hour parliamentary debate that started after midnight and ended with Tsipras delivering a final appeal in a trembling voice, Syriza was in uproar.
Some Syriza lawmakers rebelled, but Tsipras won the vote with the support of other parties.
Wounded, but armed with parliament’s approval, he returned to Brussels for the final showdown. As EU funding ran out, the government was compelled to close Greek banks and limited people to 60 euros a day from cash machines.
Tsipras looked exhausted. Some European leaders even urged him to get some rest. But with the intervention of the French, a deal was reached under which Greece agreed to accept even tougher economic reforms than had been on offer before. Tsipras announced it to his team calmly: “OK, we signed.”
