Germany wants Varoufakis replaced

The same request was also passed to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ office by the German Ambassador in Athens after the Eurogroup, only to be given the answer “Greece is an independent European country and its government is its own concern.”

“We don’t have a predictable negotiation partner in the Greek government,” said Joachim Poss, a member of the SPD’s executive board, speaking with Euro Insight. “Clearly not all actors are up to the challenges posed by the office of a finance minister. In this difficult situation, Tsipras should consider replacing Varoufakis with a more realistic finance minister.”

The Germans are not the only ones interested in replacing Varoufakis. In Greece, PASOK deputy Thodoros Pangalos said that it was a mistake for SYRIZA to put an academic in the post. “Politics is an art, it is an art as much as acting, painting, music. You’ve either got it or you haven’t. Tsipras has got it, but Varoufakis evidently hasn’t,” he said.

Despite the evident dislike of what northern Europeans see as impertinence, many Greek citizens see him as a hero who has cornered Europeans that want him replaced with someone like Greece’s former “subordinate and submissive” finance ministers.