We proved him wrong, thankfully

Wolfgang Schaeuble was an emblem in German politics, one of the pioneers of European integration, a catalyst in the unification of the two Germanies – he probably made it happen on the economic front – and, of course, one of Europe’s longest-serving MPs, having served in the Bundestag for more than 50 years. A politician with a will of iron, he spent nearly half his life confined to a wheelchair, yet always went above and beyond the call of duty, sticking out the interminable sessions of the Eurogroup as they dragged on into the early hours during the Greek crisis.

As for Greece, his role was not as creative as it had been in the unification of Germany, since he believed rather too firmly in austerity and the German dogma of ordoliberalism, and not enough in the need for flexibility and realism. More importantly, he made one critical mistake, and I say this with absolute respect to his memory: He believed that the Greek political system was incapable of the discipline required of the common European currency. He was likely swayed in this belief by certain officials at the International Monetary Fund who are, thankfully, no longer there. The IMF today is a much different organization than it was then. Thankfully, we proved him wrong. Greece remained in the euro and its evolution has been extremely positive. Nevertheless, there is a lesson here for everyone.

I personally respect him and had an excellent relationship with him, and during the two years in 2012-2014, when I had the honor of being finance minister, the word “Grexit” never crossed his lips. I had a very good personal relationship with him and excellent chemistry. He had, of course, said the famous “Yannis, forget it,” in response to demands from Athens, with the IMF’s backing, for a debt haircut, explaining that no German finance minister could go to the Bundestag with such a request. But he also explained that what could be done was a restructuring of the debt, which is eventually what happened. Indeed, this was the greatest piece of financial assistance that has ever been extended to a country and one which Greece is still benefiting from today.

Yannis Stournaras is the governor of the Bank of Greece and served as finance minister in 2012-2014.