Alexis Tsipras smiles after being sworn in as prime minister
Alexis Tsipras lays flowers at a war memorial in Athens
The
head of Greece's far-left Syriza party, Alexis Tsipras, has been sworn
in as prime minister and is set to lead an anti-austerity coalition
government.
Turning
up for the ceremony without a tie, the leftist took the oath less than
24 hours after winning the general election on an anti-austerity
platform.
Earlier, he formed a coalition with the centre-right Independent Greeks.
European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker has reminded him of the need to "ensure fiscal responsibility".
Congratulating Mr Tsipras on his election win, Mr Juncker said in a tweet:
"The European Commission stands ready to continue assisting Greece in
achieving these goals." He also referred to "promoting sustainable jobs
and growth".
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The Syriza leader has vowed to renegotiate the bailouts, which are worth €240bn (£179bn; $268bn).
Jeroen
Dijsselbloem, head of the eurozone finance ministers' group, said after
a meeting of the group in Brussels that it congratulated the new Greek
government on its electoral success and looked forward to working with
it.
He said it was too early to comment on the Syriza-led government's policies as they were still being formulated.
The euro recovered from an 11-year lowagainst
the US dollar as investors digested what Syriza's victory meant for the
eurozone's future. Europe's main share markets also rose - after
initial falls - on hopes that a compromise over Greece's bailout terms
might be found.
It
is likely that investors believe reason will prevail, and Berlin will
sanction a write-off of Greece's excessive debts, BBC economics editor Robert Peston reports.
What
unites Greece's new coalition partners is fierce opposition to budget
cuts. Alexis Tsipras and Independent Greeks leader Panos Kammenos are
anti-bailout to the core, frequently hitting out at the architects of
austerity in Berlin and Brussels and pledging a new economic path. But
that is where their common ground ends. In other areas, the two are
unlikely bedfellows.
One
is a socially liberal leftist, lambasting the "old faces" of Greek
politics. The other is a hardline right-winger on issues such as
immigration - and has been around in previous governments for some time.
So why would Syriza join forces with Independent Greeks?
Possibly
because others refused - or were deemed too soft on the bailout. The
River, a new, broadly centrist party which some expected to be the
coalition partner, made clear it opposed Syriza's hard rhetoric towards
Berlin.
The
problem for Mr Tsipras is that many of his own supporters revile Mr
Kammenos's conservatism and will be frustrated by the choice. And
disappointing his supporters, to whom he has pledged so much, is not
something Greece's new prime minister wants to repeat.
Heavy rain and a spectacular lightning storm added to the sense of momentous change in Athens on Monday
Maximos Mansion, the Greek prime minister's official residence in central Athens, has a new tenant
With all of the votes counted in Sunday's poll, Syriza has 149 seats, just two short of an absolute majority. The Greek Independents have 13 seats in the 300-seat parliament.
Breaking with tradition at his swearing-in, Mr Tsipras also refused the customary blessing from Orthodox priests.
In his first act as prime minister, he laid flowers at a memorial to Greek Resistance fighters killed by Nazi Germany during World War 2.
It is expected that a new cabinet will be formed on Tuesday.