Its a tie! Greek PM marks debt deal with sartorial twist
After long insisting he would only wear a neck tie when Greece’s debt problem was settled, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras duly did so on Friday, after euro zone peers offered debt relief that marks a turn away from the country’s long crisis
“Today is an important day for all, but primarily it belongs to those who for eight years were viciously hit by the crisis, for those who saw a lifetime of toils destroyed and those who carried the burden for the country,” Tsipras said.
Euro zone finance ministers offered Greece a 10-year deferral and maturities extension on a large chunk of past loans as well as 15 billion euros in new credit to ensure Athens can stand on its own feet after it exits its bailout in August.
Debt relief has been an overarching objective of Tsipras’s administration since he swept to power in 2015. Greece has a debt mountain equivalent to almost 180 percent of gross domestic product, the highest in the 19-country euro zone.
Greeks have seen their economy shrink by a quarter, unemployment spike and salaries and pensions slashed by about 40 percent since first falling into crisis in 2010. The country has required three international bailouts.
But he publicly removed it about half an hour later. “I fulfilled the bet, I put the tie on but all these years I gave battle without a tie,” he said, holding the garment aloft.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan looked puzzled at their first encounter and asked him bluntly where his tie was, while European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker once offered to give Tsipras his.
On Sunday, Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev removed his red tie and gave it to Tsipras during a ceremony marking the signing of an accord on a name dispute between the two countries.
Some were not impressed by Tsipras’ new attire, however. “The noose around the neck of Greeks remains,” said Fofi Gennimata, head of Socialist PASOK party.