1. Yanis Varoufakis advocates a solution that is beneficial for average Greek and European taxpayers,
dismissing the idea of a "Grexit". He is widely quoted saying that Greece has no intention of clashing
with its partners. Greek media is extremely cautious regarding the results of the negotiations, quoting
several EU officials (President Dijsselbloem and VP Katainen, among others) stressing time and again
that there are terms and conditions to the EU supporting Greece. Profiles of Mr Varoufakis depict him
as a man of the left, committed to the euro project and aware of his country's difficulties. However, he
is very outspoken when describing the eurozone economic policies and their effect on Greece, but
also on countries like Spain and Ireland. He believes in a New Deal and pledges to change the game
not only in Greece, but also in Europe.
Perception of new finance minister in the media
 Reporting on the composition of the new Greek cabinet, most papers focus on the appointment of
Yanis Varoufakis, "an outspoken bailout critic" (The WSJ), as finance minister. Several papers quote
Mr Varoufakis describing European-imposed austerity as "fiscal waterboarding" (The WSJ, The INYT,
The Times, The Guardian, FAZ, among others). For the WSJ, his appointment signals that the new
government aims to take a tough line in upcoming debt negotiations. The Times adds that EU officials
were clinging to his statements that he wanted Greece to remain in the euro and hope he will
compromise on a deal but are concerned by his lack of experience.
 Quoting him telling La Tribune that "whatever Germany says, it will still have to pay in the end", the
FAZ also quotes some German reactions. AfD leader Lucke responded that "it must be a joke, but it's
probably true". The FT says that Mr Varoufakis claims Greece should never have opted for
membership of the euro but should now stay the course, provided the debt can be renegotiated. A
cabinet colleague is quoted saying that he "will be a formidable opponent at the negotiating table for
the troika".
 Reporting from the Greek government's first cabinet meeting, The Independent writes that they "got
down to business, spooking markets and raising eyebrows across Europe by cancelling bailout
policies". Mr Varoufakis, the paper reports, "remained optimistic he would find common ground" during
his negotiations, while Mr Dijsselbloem cautioned "deliberations with the EU won't be easy".
 Kathimerini reports that PM Tsipras tried to "strike a balanced tone" in his first cabinet address. "We do
not plan to head into a mutually catastrophic clash but we will not continue the disastrous policy of
submission". FinMin Varoufakis initially appeared to strike a harder tone than Tsipras, describing
Greece’s memorandums as “a toxic mistake”, Kathimerini reports. He pledged to reduce costs at the
Finance Ministry by reducing the number of advisers and to rehire hundreds of sacked cleaning staff.
Deputy PM Dragasakis, who is to oversee the enforcement of economic policy and talks with the troika,
said the government was seeking “neither to clash, nor to compromise” with creditors and that it would
present its own program. “The memorandum has expired for us,” he said, as quoted by Kathimerini.
 Mr Varoufakis is quoted by AFP saying yesterday that he wants a "pan-European New Deal" and not a
duel between Greece and Europe. In what the news agency sees as a conciliatory gesture towards his
country's European partners, he said that Europe proved that it can find solutions and noted the
"excellent climate" during his first phone conversation with Mr Dijsselbloem.
 However, his appeasement tone had no reverberation in the Greek media, as most of them report
today that there are increasing signs that there will be a huge confrontation between the EU and the
new Greek government. Mr Dijsselbloem is widely quoted today in the Greek media stressing again
which are the terms for Europe to continue supporting Greece. Naftemporiki comments that Mr

2. Dijsselbloem is expected to ask from PM Tsipras and FinMin Varoufakis not to proceed with unilateral
actions before the beginning of the negotiations. Greek media is rather sombre when reporting that the
Commissioners thoroughly discussed the Greek situation yesterday. VP Katainen is widely quoted
saying at the press conference following the discussions that Greece needs to stick by its
commitments. Naftemporiki comments that it is evident from Mr Katainen’s statements that the EU
officials begin to publish their “red lines”. Efimerida ton Syntakton accuses Mr Katainen of being a
"pawn" of Chancellor Merkel and President Juncker, who use him to put pressure on the Greek
government.
Perception of PEG visit to Athens in the media
 Virtually all Greek media report that PM Tsipras and FinMin Varoufakis will meet Mr Dijsselbloem on
Friday, with several media reporting that this is not expected to be a negotiation meeting. Naftemporiki
comments that it is the first time that Mr Dijsselbloem visits a euro area country for consultations,
commenting that this shows that the European officials and partners want a solution to be found
quickly. The Guardian quotes Mr Dijsselbloem saying that he had a 15-minute conversation with the
new FinMin and expressing his willingness to work together with the coalition. Mr Dijsselbloem added
that the new Greek minister had been "very adamant" his country would stay in the eurozone. Although
no details were discussed in the initial conversation, the Eurogroup leader said it had been a good
start, the paper reports.
 Kathimerini reports that Mr Varoufakis said he and Mr Dijsselbloem had found “common ground”
regarding the way forward toward an agreement with creditors. According to Mr Varoufakis, they
agreed to “deconstruct” scenarios casting the talks as “a Far West-type duel.”
 Liberation quotes him saying in preparation to Mr Dijsselbloem's visit to Athens: "Even those who didn't
want Syriza in power now recognise that there is, however, with us, the opportunity of a new start in
Europe".
 Minister Schäuble is quoted by the FAZ commenting on the upcoming visit that Mr Dijsselbloem "has
no mandate from the Eurogroup, and he doesn't need one".
Media profiles of Yanis Varoufakis
 Most profiles summarise the fact that Mr Varoufakis is a university economics professor, a prolific
blogger ("a bombastic blogger", the FT calls him) who also has a successful Twitter account, the author
of a book and former economist-in-residence for a US company who was also an adviser to former PM
Papandreou.
 The Irish Times depicts Mr Varoufakis as someone who "defies the stereotype" and as an “accidental
economist” who is described as being influenced by Keynes, with some traces of Marx. The paper adds
that he has repeatedly criticised a “self-reinforcing crisis that produces indignity in Greece and feeds
Europe’s darkest forces”. He is also quoted saying that Greece and Ireland ended up paying the price
for the fact that Europe was not prepared for the financial crisis. In recent declarations, the paper adds,
he has "struck a moderate note", saying that he is interested in finding a deal "that would be beneficial
for average Greek and European taxpayers".
 The Guardian writes that the new Greek FinMin "is expected to adopt a constructive approach to tough
debt negotiations" and The Daily Telegraph writes that "Greece's finance minister is no extremist" and
calls him "obviously a man of the left and one committed to the euro project". There is no question that
Mr Varoufakis has an awareness of Greece’s precarious situation, The Telegraph writes, explaining:
speaking to Bloomberg TV after Syriza’s win, he made it clear that there was "a deep sense ... of fear
of what's coming ahead".
 El Mundo has spoken to Mr Varoufakis and quotes him warning that he will "change the rules that have
governed the game until now". In the interview, Mr Varoufakis dismisses the idea that the Greek
economy is back on growth and he warns that Spain could be the next victim of a similar humanitarian
crisis. "The crisis is exactly the same in Spain, Greece, Ireland… it is the result of the wrong design of
the eurozone", he says. He also strongly condemns the measures taken to save Greece from
bankruptcy, explicitly calling them "a criminal act". "It was an exercise of cynicism and absolute anti-
Europeanism to save the banks at the expense of the citizens", he says. "We will form a government
that will say stop, not only for ourselves, but for the whole of Europe too", he says, adding that Syriza is
Europe's last chance as it's being challenged by neonazis or the FN. He talks about his immediate
plans, saying that the first proposals he will submit to the Eurogroup, Ecofin and the EUCO would be to
end the humanitarian crisis. Then come the proposals to reduce the Greek debt "so that Greece can
breathe" without causing harm to the country's European partners, he says.

3.  El Pais writes that Mr Varoufakis believes in a "New Deal" for managing the crisis. Quoting lines from
his book and from a famous interview with ORF, the paper says that the new Greek FinMin believes
that Europe is creating its own crisis and that it has never before happened for people so powerful to
understand so little of what the world economy needs in order to recover.
 Les Echos, among others, quotes him writing on his blog that the Troika's solutions are nothing else
but a "cynical transfer of banking losses on the shoulders of the weakest taxpayers".
 The FAZ depicts him as a very self-confident man, while describing his political and academic career.
Handelsblatt adds that - for the negotiations with the ECB and EU's finance ministers he has the right
specialisation: "Spieltheorie" (game theory). The FT also mentions that he is an expert in game and
bargaining theory.
 Kathimerini comments on his economic views: "Varoufakis’ views on how to solve the Greek crisis
appear to be pretty similar to those expressed in multiple editorials at Bloomberg View -- give Greece a
break on its debts, stop forcing it to try to slash its way to prosperity. They’re not out on some crazy
fringe." However, the paper concludes, somewhat ironically, that - to make those things happen - "he
would need to be finance minister of Germany, not Greece".
 Bloomberg quotes him describing the bailout programme: "It was an extend and pretend, it was a
vicious cycle, a debt-deflationary trap, which not only destroyed our social economy but also showed
that the cost of our so-called bailout for the average German, the average Italian, the average Slovak
was maximized."
 Mr Varoufakis published an op-ed in The Economist on Jan 20th, discussing QE in the eurozone. "Of
course, one understands that the ECB faces political and legal constraints that prevent it from pursuing
a sovereign-bond-purchase programme that would work well in practice. For this reason a different
type of asset-purchase programme would be preferable, one that bypasses the legal and political
constraints that the ECB is currently facing and one that is potentially far more effective in tackling
deflation and the chronic underinvestment that has caused it", he writes. He also challenges the ECB's
decision not to purchase Greek bonds, arguing that this is "yet another signal that Europe is uncertain
about the euro zone’s solidity". He furthermore explores "better" options to maximize the asset-
purchase programme’s impact, concluding with a line that has since become quite viral: "Doing
something is not always better than doing nothing, especially when there are alternatives better than
either."
Social media perception of the EU-Greece relation
 An interview with Mr Varoufakis by Channel 4 is very viral on Twitter and his pledge to tackle Greece's
oligarchy system is his most quoted line.
 Tweets from journalists and politicians retain the fact that Mr Varoufakis hopes in a non-confrontational
approach with the EU, however standing firm in his commitment to renegotiate Greece's position.
Please find the most interesting Twitter comments listed below.
Kostas Karkagiannis@KKarkagiannis ·
Dear Mr. @sigmargabriel it was the #EUCO which decided to shift #Greek obligations from private creditors to
#EU taxpayers, not #Greece
0 replies11 retweets5 favorites
Stanley Pignal@spignal
Greek finmin Varoufakis keeps on saying Greece is "black hole" of money for creditors. Urges the question:
why should they send more?
MacroPolis@MacroPolis_gr
Greece's new finance minister @yanisvaroufakis says he agreed with @J_Dijsselbloem that talk of a
confrontation should be avoided #Greece
0 replies9 retweets1 favorite
Kathimerini English @ekathimerini
Varoufakis speaks of joint bid with Eurogroup chief Dijsselbloemto deconstruct media narrative of
confrontation between two sides #Greece
0 replies25 retweets6 favorites
Loukia Gyftopoulou@loukia_g
Finance Min Varoufakis said he had constructive conversation with @J_Dijsselbloem & has also spoken to
Italian & French finance min. #Greece

4. Kathimerini English @ekathimerini
Varoufakis speaks of joint bid with Eurogroup chief Dijsselbloem to deconstruct media narrative of
confrontation between two sides #Greece
Megan Greene@economistmeg
All indications so far (coalition w Indy Greeks, Varoufakis as finmin) point to new Greek govt going into talks w
the troika w guns blazing.
0 replies15 retweets3 favorites
Hugo Dixon@Hugodixon
2 Stathakis also good choice for economic development. Varoufakis as fin min more doubtful: he's v smart but
a firebrand
0 replies6 retweets7 favorites
Ian Katz@iankatz1000
Refreshing to hear politicians who don't sound like pols - Syriza's Yanis Varoufakis reacts to congrats: "It's a
poisoned chalice" #BBCr4today
0 replies17 retweets10 favorites
Dimitri Lascaris@dimitrilascaris
Yanis Varoufakis: A Syriza government will attack oligarchy, poverty and unreason, for European
democracy’s sake - http://yanisvaroufakis.eu/2015/01/24/attacking-oligarchy-poverty-and-unreason-for-
european-democracys-sake-interviewed-for-channel-4-by-paul-mason/ ….
0 replies6 retweets1 favorite
 Most shared link on Twitter is an interview with Mr Varoufakis by Channel 4:
http://www.channel4.com/news/we-are-going-to-destroy-the-greek-oligarchy-system
 His most shared quote on Twitter is: 'We are going to destroy the Greek oligarchy system'.
Ramona Gabar
Media Monitoring
General Secretariat of the Council
Communication and Documentation
Media and Communication
Media/Press Office
00 DH 13
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België
Direct tel: 2706
www.consilium.europa.eu | ramona.gabar@consilium.europa.eu
Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU
Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de l'UE