October 25, 2011
Evangelos Venizelos long had a single goal in mind: becoming his country's next leader. Since his appointment as Greece's finance minister in June, however, his political fate has now been inextricably linked to that of Prime Minister George Papandreou, his former rival. As the man in charge of Greek austerity, his is a thankless job.
Evangelos Venizelos is on edge. After having called for national unity so many times in the fight against his country's "historical and existential crisis," he is standing before members of parliament once again to implore the opponents of the radical austerity program "not to play with fire." Raising his index finger, he warns: "We are the running the risk of burning ourselves."
Venizelos leans heavily against the podium, his head pulled down between his shoulders like a bull about to attack, and his brow furrowed with deep, angry lines. "We are in a state of war," he tells the members of parliament. It isn't quite clear whether he is referring to the fight against the financial crisis or the resistance coming from his own people, which is manifesting itself in angry mass protests and bloody street battles outside the parliament building in Athens.
Greece is not even experiencing "the worst phase of the crisis" yet, he rages, which is why the important answers to the question of how to go about rescuing the country are needed now. "Everything else means absolutely nothing."
Venizelos has run out of patience. He seems thin-skinned, irritated and beleaguered. He is tired of having to explain the country's financial mess over and over again. He never leaves any room for doubt that he knows his material and what is good for his country, especially when, as he is doing now in the parliament, he explains the world in long, drawn-out, unscripted monologues.
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