Economics

EU Powers Suffer Shock Defeat as Irish Take Key Finance Job

  • Donohoe wins vote to become head of euro finance chiefs’ group
  • Spanish favorite defeated in Eurogroup runoff ballot Thursday
Paschal DonohoePhotographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
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The euro region’s smallest nations staged an uprising to put one of their own in charge of finance ministers’ meetings and strike a blow against the bloc’s major powers.

Ireland’s Paschal Donohoe won a secret ballot of 19 colleagues Thursday to become president of the Eurogroup, defeating the Spanish favorite, Nadia Calvino, who was backed by the European Union’s four biggest economies.