25.06.2012
By Simon Miller
The Greek finance minister has resigned without ever been sworn in according to reports.
Vassilis Rapanos went into hospital on Friday after complaining about abdominal pain and nausea.
An official at the Hygeia Hospital told Reuters that Rapanos would be leaving hospital on Tuesday after a "gastroscopy and colonoscopy, which showed everything is completely normal".
Greece is expected to try and renegotiate the terms of its bailout at the two-day EU summit on Thursday but the team will also be without its prime minister Antonis Samaras who underwent successful surgery on Saturday to repair a damaged retina.
Rapanos was admitted on Friday before he could be sworn in as finance minister and is expected to miss a two-day EU summit starting on Thursday, when Greece will try to renegotiate the punishing terms of its international bailout.
Instead, Greece's foreign minister Dimitris Avramopoulos and outgoing finance minister Giorgios Zanias will attend the meeting.
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