US EditionIn Stunning Reversal for Europe, Greek Finance Minister Elected as Eurogroup President
Pierrakakis’s election reflects Greece’s recovery from crisis, with the country among six EU states to record a 2024 budget surplus, signaling fiscal improvement.
- On Thursday, Greek Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis was elected president of the Eurogroup and will take over functions on 12 December, succeeding Makis Keravnos after Paschal Donohoe's November resignation.
- Ministers cited Greece's reforms and recovery—restored investment-grade bonds and being one of six EU member states with a 2024 budget surplus—as reasons for consensus support.
- After a tight contest, Pierrakakis secured a large majority while Vincent Van Peteghem, Belgian Budget Minister, faced political crossfire over Ukraine reparations and Arvils Aaeradens, Latvian Finance Minister, publicly congratulated him.
- The Eurogroup presidency handles EU capital markets and the investment union, and Pierrakakis’s words are closely followed in euro-area policy debates.
- A decade earlier Greece teetered on the brink in June 2015, imposed capital controls, defaulted on a $1.8 billion IMF loan and saw unemployment reach 28% with youth unemployment nearly 60%.
53 Articles
53 Articles
Greece's Minister of Finance Kyriakos Pierrakakis was elected as the new head of the Euro Group for the next two and a half years.
Kyriakos Pierrakakis is the Greek Minister of Finance and he was also elected President of the Eurogroup on Thursday 11 December. The Eurogroup is an informal assembly which brings together the twenty Member States of the euro area in particular. And although it is not officially an institution of the European Union, the Eurogroup assembly is one of the main decision-making bodies in economic policy in the euro area.
The Euro Group will be given a new chairman: Kyriakos Pierrakakis. 42-year-old Greek will set the accents in the eurozone's fiscal policy in the future.
The Head of Finance of Greece shall assume functions on 12 December 2025 for a term of two and a half years. The first meeting under its leadership is marked for January 2026.
Greek Finance Minister Pierrakakis will become the new president of the Eurogroup.
Associated Press News
Greek finance minister elected as Eurogroup president
Greek Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis has been elected as president of the Eurogroup — a move that would have been unthinkable just 10 years ago, when the country was in the throes of a deep financial crisis that almost saw it tossed out of the eurozone altogether.
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 48% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
