Kyriakos Pierrakakis elected head of Eurogroup in recognition of Greece's reform agenda. Belgian candidate caught in crossfire over reparations loan for Ukraine. The Eurogroup handles key economic and financial dossiers.
Greek Finance minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis was elected president of the Eurogroup on Thursday, rewarding the country's turnaround story ten years after Greece almost crashed out of the eurozone in a deep economic crisis.
Sources familiar with the matter told Euronews that ministers appreciated the country's reforms agenda and saw in the Greek finance minister a positive story for the bloc.
His rival, the Belgian Budget Minister Vincent Van Peteghem, who was also in the running, saw his candidature caught up in a political crossfire over a reparations loan for Ukraine, which his country opposes, but most member states support.
A diplomat familiar with the matter told Euronews that the Belgian minister had a profile strong as he is well considered by his colleagues over his handling of the financial dossiers during the Belgian rotating presidency of the European Union, but Pierrakakis proved more of a consensus candidate.
Earlier, a second diplomat had suggested a tight race, but the Greek candidate ultimately gathered a large majority.
He will take over the functions on 12 December, coinciding with the exit of former boss Paschal Donohoe, who was re-elected this year but abruptly exited the position to take a take the top job at the World Bank in Washington.
The Eurogroup gathers finance ministers to handle key economic files including the EU's capital markets and the investment union at crucial for the European economy, coming under assault of China's growing global market share and US tariffs.
This is a developing story more details to come soon