Greece Names New Prime Minister

In a ceremony that also inducted his ministers, Lucas Papademos, former vice president of the European Central Bank, was sworn in today as the new prime minister of Greece. The ceremony was attended by the president and the head of the Greek Orthodox Church and the new government is expected to be handed a vote of confidence from parliament soon.

"Papademos is well versed in Greece's financial and political systems and is well respected by economists, Greece's politicians and European leaders," Vassilis Monastiriotis, a senior lecturer for the Hellenic Observatory at the London School of Economics, said in an interview reported by CNN. 

Mr. Papdemos begins his tenure in office with a difficult situation to deal with and not a lot of time to deal with it. He has only a few weeks to convince the European Union, the International Monetary Fund, and the European Central Bank to release an $11 million package of aid before the country runs out of money. To do this, he must convince European leaders that another shock will not occur, like the one that occurred in October. 

“The course will not be easy, but the problems, I’m convinced, will be solved. They will be solved faster, with a smaller cost and in an efficient way, if there is unity, agreement and prudence," Papademos said in an interview reported by the New York Times.

Papademos will also serve as the Governor of the Bank of Greece. In a speech, he called for unity politically and promised to cooperate with the wishes of both of the dominant political parties in Greece, the governing Socialists and the opposition Conservatives to keep Greece in the Eurozone, the nations that use the Euro as currency that features 17 nations. 

"The participation of our country in the eurozone is a guarantee for the country's monetary stability. It is a driver of financial prosperity," Papademos said in an interview reported by MSNBC.

Thumbnail photo by miloskaljevic/Flickr.

Photo by ines saraiva/Flickr.