Ever since his infamous half-handshake with Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister and temporary chair of the Eurogroup, has been the target of justified scorn. But with the Greek government blackmailed into submission yesterday, he is now enjoying his finest moment.

Internationally, Dijsselbloem has become the subject of endless jokes and cartoons, in which he is either portrayed as the colorless bureaucrat in suit and tie being schooled by his stylish and intelligent Greek counterpart or, alternately, as Germany’s whip. But one question remains unanswered amid the power game between Greece’s left-wing government and the European Union’s neoliberal hardliners: why does Dijsselbloem take this so personally?

Insignificant as this is from a psychological point of view, it does matter in terms of the clash of interests at the heart of the EU, as well as in the developing struggle for the soul of the European left.