Greece’s new finance minister, Euclid Tsakalotos, faces the challenge of his professional life as he tries to keep his country in the eurozone, but he may be hampered by his “humble” and “socially reserved” nature, and his lack of persuasion skills.
At least that’s the verdict of analysts who got a peek at his handwriting.
The glimpse into Tsakalotos’ putative character comes thanks to a photo taken Tuesday showing him posing with Jeroen Dijsselbloem, head of the Eurogroup and Dutch finance minister. Tucked under the Greek minister’s arm is a page of hand-written notes, in English, partly covered up by his thumb.
One of the legible bits reads, “no triumphalism,” possibly a reference to Sunday’s Greek referendum which overwhelmingly rejected the creditor group’s cash-for-reforms proposal.
POLITICO asked graphologists to take a look at his writing and what it says about him. Handwriting analysts frequently operate as executive coaches and help in making hiring decisions.
The graphologists cautioned that only a perfunctory analysis was possible without a signature sample and a better resolution image that would show the quality and pressure flowing from the minister’s pen.
Roni Ganiari, a spokeswoman for Tsakalotos, declined to provide an image of the minister’s signature, adding twice that she was “gobsmacked” at the request.
The verdict
“He is rational but without great vision or strong confidence in himself,” said Patricia Siegel, president of the American Society of Professional Graphologists.
Tsakalotos “seems to be a man without an over-sized ego that would interfere with making reasonable decisions,” Siegel continued. “He is socially reserved and seems to be awkward. He doesn’t have dynamic qualities that men usually have who can persuade people, to sell, to influence others’ ideas.”
According to Marie-Thérèse Christians, a leading Belgian graphologist, Tsakalotos’ script belongs to a reliable, meticulous man. “He seems very stable and honest, even if we don’t have access to his signature. According to his writing, he is a reliable man with both good analytical skills and strong resilient qualities.”
The Greek minister “will observe the environment, trying to get the mood and once he feels confident, he will communicate,” Christians added. “When he speaks, this is concise, precise and well-thought. We know what to expect with that man.”
Tsakalotos is “an independent man and thinker,” according to an email from Margaret White, a founding member of the British Institute of Graphologists. “He dislikes being told what to do.”
“There is a tendency to misplace the emphasis on matters of importance which is unfortunate, as his overall thinking and product is worthwhile and ‘in detail’ correct. He is quietly determined, however, to get his message across and will argue his case most tenaciously,” she said.
Tsakalotos — a soft-spoken, left-wing Oxford-educated economist with a posh English accent — has played a supporting role to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras ever since the populist Syriza party took power in February.
He has been a cool-mannered presence alongside more controversial members of Tsipras’ government like Yanis Varoufakis, the former finance minister who ended up alienating his eurozone colleagues with his lectures and manner.
Tsakalotos has made a more positive initial impression. After the Eurogroup meeting, his Finnish colleague Alex Stubb, a hardliner on resisting Greek demands, described him as “very pleasant, mild-mannered.”
Quentin Ariès contributed to this article.