Tsipras Names His Cabinet

Newly elected Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has announced his new cabinet, which will be ready to take on the challenge of confronting the EU-ECB-IMF Troika.

The first Deputy Prime Minister is Yannis Dragasakis, one of most senior members of Syriza. He is a former member of the Communist Party and a founder of Syriza. It is believed he will play a key role in negotiating with the EU and overseeing all the economic-related ministries.

Defense Minister is Panos Kammenos, leader of the Independent Greeks. His deputy is Kostas Isihos, who had been foreign policy spokesman for the Syriza. Born in Argentina and raised in Canada, where his family fled following one of the military coups in Argentina. Kammenos and Isihos hold strongly pro- Russian views.

Foreign Minister is Nikos Kotzias, a foreign policy expert. He announced that he will be going to Brussels on Jan. 29 to take part in the emergency summit of EU Foreign Affairs Ministers, where sanctions against Russia will be discussed. This will be interesting, since both Syriza and the Independent Greeks have voiced opposition to sanctions. Kotzias had been an advisor to former Prime Minister George Papandreou, but broke with him in disgust over the bailout.

Finance Minister is Yannis Varoufakis, an economist who has been promoting the idea of a European economic debt conference. Although some of the ideas he has expressed on how the debt should be handled are questionable, he has called for the European Investment Bank to be expanded greatly in order to finance a “New Deal” for Europe.

As the first step in the government’s plan for administrative reform, the number of ministries has been reduced to 10. So there are now 10 ministers and 28 deputy ministers and state secretaries, making for a total cabinet of 38 members.

See EIR’s “A Greek Proposal: Convene a European Debt Conference for 2015”