Greece's Alexis Tsipras this week offered a "mea culpa" over the his and his leftist-rightist coalition government's failings since he rode to power in January 2015 on a populist wave of anti-bailout and anti-austerity rhetoric, choosing the pages of the "Guardian" for a reflective interview.
In statements to the British mass daily's long-time correspondent in Athens, which was nevertheless headlined with the positive "... the worst is clearly behind us,”, the Greek premier admitted that “I have made mistakes … big mistakes ... the choice of people in key posts”.
In an interview with Helena Smith, Tsipras, who has seen his personal approval ratings and that of his once radical SYRIZA party implode in two and a half years, was also quoted as saying that "when I came into this office (January 2015), I had no experience, or sense, of how big the day-to-day difficulties would be ... I think, now, I have a very different picture from the one I had initially.”
The entire article can be found on the Guardian's website:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/24/alexis-tsipras-the-worst-is-clearly-behind-us
