Greece faces more woes: Finance minister resigns

Elena Becatoros - The Associated Press

AP Photo/Kostas Tsironis, File
This is a Thursday, June 21 2012 file photo of prominent banker Vassilis Rapanos as he looks on during his meeting with New Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and the heads of the two minority coalition partners, Evangelos Venizelos from the Greek Socialist PASOK party and the smaller Democratic Left's Fotis Kouvelis, in Athens. The prime minister's office said Monday June 25, 2012 that Greece's designated finance minister, Vassilis Rapanos who was rushed to hospital on Friday, has resigned.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The banker who was chosen to be Greece's next finance minister resigned for health reasons Monday three days after he was rushed to the hospital, while the country's prime minister was confined to his home, recovering from serious eye surgery.

Greece's debt woes took a backseat to the health problems of the country's five-day-old government, forcing debt inspectors to postpone a visit to Athens and prompting Germany to warn Monday that a European Union summit later this week would be unlikely to produce any major decisions on Greece.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras accepted the resignation of Vassilis Rapanos hours after being discharged from another hospital himself following an operation to repair a detached retina over the weekend.

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June 25, 2012

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1. Philip Vorgias wrote on June 25, 2012 6:35 PM	The most critical assignment in Samaras' cabinet and he appointes a....forgive my candor....walking corpse. Can't you just, for one minute Mr. Samaras, forget your'e a lifelong government functionary? How about taking your job with the same seriousness as those in the private sector, just this once!

2. ARMODIOS PAPAGIANAKIS wrote on June 26, 2012 1:10 AM	Apparently, Samaras nearly lost his eyesight after reading the updated debt-to-GDP statistics and Rapanos probably got nauseas after it dawned on him that despite any government coalition, Greece is still insolvent. Now, less than one week on the job, the two top guys have to “call in” sick from the EU summit…only in Greece!

3. Philip Vorgias wrote on June 26, 2012 11:25 AM	It certainly isn't reassuring. Maybe Samaras is only in it for the PM's pension and retirement bennies? That's why most pols in the USA run for President-a $ 500k/year pension, speaking fees, book fees, travel expenses. Pretty good retirement-in America or in Greece.
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Sunday, May 19, 2013 Last Update: 5:03 AM ET