Paris Match’s cover story is entitled “Betty, the Iron lady of Alexis Tsipras”, and it casts the spotlight on Greece’s first lady — or even “second lady”, given that there’s also a president of the republic.
The French lifestyle magazine writes: “Alexis Tsipras’ companion is his left uncompromising conscience. Discreet in her public appearances,Peristera (Betty) Barziana, as is her full name, exerts influence over Alexis Tsipras. From the moment they met at school they were each committed to one another,” the magazine writes, mostly rehashing previously published information.
“If I submit to the demands of creditors, my wife will leave me. I cannot disappoint her, bearing in mind she is more left than I am,” is the phrase that the magazine repeats, saying that the Greek prime minister allegedly confided this to French President Francois Hollande on June 17. The magazine wonders: “Did Betty stay by his side or leave him?”
Described as a “beautiful brunette”, a civil engineer by training (like Tsipras) and the mother of two boys, Paris Match points to a discreet woman who was Alexis’ childhood sweetheart.
The magazine refers to her nickname as “Red Betty” and the pride she must have felt when 61 percent of Greek voters responded “no” in a referendum, before detailing her relationship with Tsipras that dates back to the time when she was 13 years at a high school at Ambelokipi, in central Athens, in 1987.
