Failing to build a network as policy entrepreneurs: Greek politicians negotiating with the EU during the first quarter of SYRIZA in government

Abstract

The 2015 elections in Greece signalled a change in the country’s government. SYRIZA, the main party of the new coalition, was elected on the promise of clashing with the European and international institutions to alleviate the burden of foreign control on Greece’s policies and politics. Through a chronicle narrative, this article explains the behaviour of the two main actors for Greece, i.e. Alexis Tsipras and Yanis Varoufakis, during the negotiations with the EU and the rest of the world, highlighting their inability to act as policy entrepreneurs and to form supportive networks with their interlocutors to achieve their goals.