Former German minister Fischer: Tsipras is dangerous

“Tsipras, as I read, wants to end austerity policies. I asked the German government what it would in such an eventuality. 'Then we will have to negotiate' was their answer. However, if things reach that point, we'll be in a right pickle,” said the so-called “Greens Guru.”

Speaking at a forum organized by the foreign journalists association at Berlin's Bertelsmannhaus foundation, Mr Fischer spoke of the danger posed by a left turn in Europe's south.

“If the president of SYRIZA becomes prime minister he will be in a position to sweep along all of the European south towards dangerous leftist tracks and this would be fatal for the EU,” noted the Greens lynchpin.

Mr Fischer did however lay into the policies of Frau Merkel, noting that you can't cut debt and simultaneously attempt structural reforms. “What is Berlin waiting for? For Hollande to fail in France, and then we get Lepen? Or for Tsirpas [sic] to take over as premier of Greece?” wondered the former German minister.

In his recent book “Is Europe Floundering?” he admits that the efforts to save Greece were in actuality efforts to save northern European banks and by extension the European banking system.

Mr Fischer, however, rejected any possibility of a Greek exit from the euro.