The leader of Greece's left-wing anti-bailout Syriza party has been sworn in as Prime Minister a day after his decisive election win.
Alexis Tsipras (40) was formally appointed Greece's youngest-ever prime minister at a swearing in ceremony in Athens.
He was elected Sunday on a firm anti-austerity platform.
He has since agreed to form a governing coalition with the right-wing Nationalist Independent Greeks party.
The unusual pairing of parties from opposite ends of the political spectrum, but with a shared drive to reverse painful austerity measures, raises the prospect of a stand-off with European creditors and economic powerhouse, Germany.
In his victory speech, Mr Tsipras vowed Greece would abandon the "catastrophic austerity" measures imposed under the EU-IMF deal.
He has also promised to renegotiate the repayment terms of Greece's €240bn international bailout.
"Greece leaves behinds catastrophic austerity, it leaves behind fear and authoritarianism, it leaves behind five years of humiliation and anguish," Mr Tsipras told thousands of supporters in Athens.
Syriza won 149 seats in the 300-seat parliament in Sunday's vote, just two seats short of an overall majority.
It had a 8.5-point lead over the ruling conservative New Democracy party of outgoing Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.
Financial jitters
Financial markets have reacted nervously to the result, fearing conflict with other Eurozone governments that could put strain the currency bloc.
Greece was forced to undertake deep budget cuts and fiscal reforms as a condition for a €240bn bailout in 2010 from the Troika - the group of creditors made up of the European Union, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Central Bank (ECB).
Many in Greece feel slashed public spending has hit the most vulnerable hardest, while leaving the tax evasion and corruption of the apparent elites untouched.
Mr Tsipras said he would cooperate with fellow Eurozone leaders for "a fair and mutually beneficial solution", but said the Greek people come first.
"Our priority from the very first day will be to deal with the big wounds left by the crisis. Our foremost priority is that our country and our people regain their lost dignity," he said.
He added: "The verdict of our people means the Troika is finished."
Crowds celebrate in Athens | Image: Facebook/ΣΥ.ΡΙΖ.Α.
"The new Greek government will be ready to cooperate and negotiate for the first time with our peers a just, mutually beneficial and viable solution."
Germany's Bundesbank has warned Greece needs to reform to tackle its economic problems, while the euro fell nearly half a US cent.
Mr Samaras had insisted voters would be making a huge mistake to elect Syriza at a time when painful fiscal reforms may be about to pay off.
After conceding defeat, he told supporters: "My conscience is clear because I told the truth to the Greek people until the very end. I received a country that was almost destroyed and I was asked to hold a hot potato and I did that."
There are also plans to spend billions of euros on things like welfare.
Raoul Ruparel from the think-tank Open Europe says that would not go down well within the EU.
While Dr Eoin Drea, economist at the Martens Centre for European Studies in Brussels, explained to Breakfast Business earlier here on Newstalk what is next for Greece.
Originally published January 25th
