Tsipras polishing image for European role

een in this light, SYRIZA are attempting to turn this into a competition of interest to all of Europe, hoping that soon Mr Tsipras and SYRIZA cadres will be interlocutors with the EU and the country's lenders. As German newspaper Taggespiegel notes that polls so far see a resounding victory for SYRIZA in the European parliament elections.

This is the reason, Taggespiegel sees, behind comments made by government vice president Evangelos Venizelos insinuating that German politicians are insensitive to the plight of crisis stricken countries.

The question posed is whether party cadres and Alexis Tsipras are ready to talk with Europe if they are in the government. The climate, in recent meetings between Mr Tsipras and institutional representatives of the EU and the Commission has improved since the Spring of 2012, but it is still quite a distance for Mr Tsipras to be considered an equal interlocutor. A recent article in Suddeutsche Zeitung noted with a certain horror the rise in the preference of poll respondents for staunchly anti-memorandum SYRIZA.

There are those within SYRIZA that believe will exert pressure on Mr Tsipras to sign off on a possible mid-term rescue program that is expected to come under discussion in the next weeks. Despite such rumors, the climate in Brussels seems to be against such blackmail practices that may backfire completely.

Mr Tsipras is planning the party's moves vis-a-vis a confrontation on the new mid-term plan that will wind down when the Eurogroup meets in March and April. This is a primary aim of the main opposition as it will seek to expand and solidify the anti-memorandum front.

SYRIZA expects that terms for the new mid-term plan to close the fiscal gap will be heavy and will cause more loss of popular support for the government. Although Mr Tsipras planned to use the visit by europarliament VP Othmar Karas who is investigating the effects of the troika on crisis ridden countries to launch his PR campaign ahead of May polls. The postponment of the visit and the inauguration of the Greek EU presidency on Wednesday may overshadow its use as communications device.

Although there are those in SYRIZA who want national elections in May, more sombre voices prefer to wait for a later confrontation, and the prevailing climate is seen as being one of waiting. Many cadres want to see the climate that will be formed from the discussion for the new mid-term plan and any resulting agreement, and also deal with the internal opposition of the “Left Platform,” avoiding any rash moves. There is also the issue of allowing the government to deal with the hot potato of dealing with the countries lenders.

One thing is certain, Mr Tsipras will be touting and reinforcing his European image ahead of his bid as candidate of the European Left for European Commission President. The President is elected for a renewable five-year term starting six months after the elections for European Parliament. It is therefore, most likely, Mr Tsipras will be spending a lot more time abroad impinging on internla responsibilities.

An effort to reinforce the left's electoral outlook ahead of the European elections will be aimed by Mr Tsipras, firstly, by trying to coalesce disparate factions in neighboring Italy. A first tele-conference with leaders of several Italian left factions, from Communist Reestablishment to the Democratic Party, and Pepe Grilo's Five Star Movement, yielded only meager results.