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In a freshly published personal account, called Ithaki, the former prime minister Alexis Tsipras pulls no punches as he reflects on the chaotic era during Greece's financial crisis.

An Unconventional Appointment

As per Tsipras's recollections, he chose that unorthodox academic Yanis Varoufakis as his finance minister mainly due to his global profile along with his “extremely attractive” skills as a communicator.

“In reality, he was, in reality, more of a personality and less of an economist,” wrote Tsipras.

Conflicting Agendas

Tsipras suggests how Varoufakis had a personal motives which involved promoting his publications as well as experimenting with his economic models using the nation instead of truly advocating the country's economic stability.

Tsipras wrote that the talks to avoid insolvency were “not only a way of achieving improved terms for the country. They became an experiment, a monumental opportunity to prove the validity of his theories.”

High-Stakes Talks

Amid volatile negotiations, Greece came dangerously close to exiting the eurozone.

On the line lay not only Greece's future and those punishing austerity measures demanded in return for bailout funds by international creditors.

Failed Options

Efforts to find funds from other sources, including an urgent appeal to Russia to buy Greek bonds, fell on stony ground.

Assisting the indebted country was equivalent to throwing money into the garbage, the Russian leader is reputed to have informed Tsipras during their meeting.

Public Vote and U-Turn

That summer, the harsh conditions were put to a popular referendum, a move which plunged Europe into further crisis of identity.

Even though the referendum was won resoundingly by voters who opposed austerity, Tsipras had little option but to ignore the result and agree to a bailout package with foreign lenders which proved to be tougher.

Final Straw

The ex-PM revealed how he started questioning Varoufakis quite early on.

“Varoufakis was the public image of the talks, the man who attracted publicity, who appeared on the covers of publications globally … it seemed he relished his new role.”

When Varoufakis outlined a contingency plan that included creating a secondary currency as well as issuing coupons to retirees, Tsipras knew that it was game over and asked him: “Is this for real?”

Enduring Rebuke

In the book, Tsipras asserts how Varoufakis demonstrated himself to be “unsuitable for an agreement that required intricate and delicate handling.”

He also claimed how his aggressive style made him increasingly isolated with colleagues, endangered the country, and helped hardliners that were advocating Grexit.

The retelling of history has been met with fury along with stunned disbelief among certain groups, whereas the former minister has so far kept a deafening silence on the matter.