Who will blink first? – Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet

Who will blink first? – Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet

After the battle of Greek debt and new loans increasingly played out in the full glare is attention to the two main combatants. Yanis Varoufakis the last few weeks teased up in arms over the rest of the finance ministers of the euro group.

Not just because he appears as a mixture of rebel, sober academics and left visionary with a hyper-intellect but mainly because he is hovering on target when it comes to hard numbers and clear timetables.

Self-describes he himself like this on twitter: “economics professor who for years has quietly posted obscure academic texts before I was thrown in at the political scene because of Europe’s senseless crisis policy. “In other words: zero political experience.

Crisis policies, ie the reforms that Greece has undertaken to implement in exchange for credits on the day a total of 240 billion since 2010, he has previously described as “barbaric” and “water bording,” an allusion to the torture in Guantanamo.

But that was before Yanis Varoufakis became Finance Minister in a country that he describes as bankruptcy, with banks also are bankrupt. A country which is now in desperate need of new billion.

At home, he is celebrated as a hero. He’s tough. He is brilliant. He stands up against the rest of the eurozone countries. And he has become a symbol of a Greece which do not fold. With his heavy motorcycle and unconventional attire, he also has a moderate rebellious charisma that fascinates.

The exact opposite is Wolfgang Schäuble. Always impeccably dressed in a suit and tie, a wheelchair since an assassination attempt in 1990, he recalls a string and sometimes patronizing school master. He is a veteran of European politics by 42 years in the German parliament and heavy items including Interior Minister, leader of the ruling CDU and the Chairman of the group in the Bundestag.

Schauble is a power master who has tons of political experience and is hardened by countless political battles. But despite all the rigor that he sometimes exudes he is basically a compromise and pragmatic uppgörelsernas politicians.

One wonders what that has made him go through the roof when he accuses Athens to mix the cards. Why snobs he so unconditionally and so demonstratively the Greek proposal? Why this ultimatum to emergency program, which expires at the end of the month? “Am 28. 24 Uhr, is over!”. End of story.

Clearly states that Schäuble is – to say the least – irritated. For it will, he probably does not trust the new Greek government. In the Eurogroup, many people have the same opinion.

But ruling enough to Schäuble, who is an ardent EU enthusiast, see the tug of war with Greece as a guide for the euro zone’s future. Gives you by now it will open a Pandora’s box. Why should other crisis countries tighten their belts and introduce stinging reforms in Greece shows that it goes without?

Before the crisis summit in Brussels sees Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Schäuble certainly appears to have firmly established themselves in each corner. The question is whether Merkel and Alexis Tsipras must soon turn out. Otherwise, Greece will take another step closer to the abyss, another step closer to “Grexit”.