Greece’s New Finance Minister Resigns One Week After Accepting Job

Greece’s new finance minister Vassilis Rapanos has resigned from his new post before he was even sworn in. Rapanos was supposed to take over the key finance position from outgoing Finance Minister Giorgos Zanias. Instead Zanias who still holds the position will travel this week to the European Union Summit where he will mean with Germany and other EU members to discuss the countries financial situation.

Rapanos was hospitalized over the weekend fainting. While Giorgos is now alert in his hospital bed he is still suffering from abdominal pain, dizziness, and nausea. It is not clear if his sickness led to his resignation.

The EU Summit which comes just weeks after Greece formed its new coalition government is meant to renegotiate some of the country’s austerity measures it agreed to in return for billions of rescue loan Euros that Greek officials accepted from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

On Monday Greece’s debt inspectors known as the Troika (European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF) were expected to arrive in Greece but that visit was delayed after Prime Minister Antonis Samaras was also hospitalized following surgery for a detached retina.

Because of various delays caused by sickness and resignation German officials said new decisions would likely not be made this week. Samaras has promised to rework the countries bailout plan which has been protested against by many of Greece’s citizens.

Further delays and mounting fears that Greece will not climb out of its debt situation the Athens Stock Exchange closed down 6.84 percent during Monday trading.

Speaking about the postponement of the troika visit European Commission spokesman Amadeu Altafaj Tardio said:

“First, our concern is for the health of the prime minister and finance minister”

Tardio says the Troika visit will now happen “as soon as possible.”