SYRIZA

The Greek left coalition that governed 2015 to 2019 under Alexis Tsipras.

Overview

SYRIZA, Coalition of the Radical Left, assembled in 2004 from Eurocommunist, Maoist, green, and civic groups, and exploded in the 2012 crisis elections as the anti austerity pole. Alexis Tsipras won January 2015, clashed with creditors through the referendum of that July, accepted a bailout within weeks, and governed through capital controls, pension cuts, and the Prespa name deal with North Macedonia. Reelected 2015, defeated 2019 by New Democracy, the party split as dissidents left over strategy. It remains the main opposition pole of the Greek left, its story inseparable from the eurozone crisis and the limits of unilateral politics within it.