Greece PM Alexis Tsipras says eurozone deal cancels past austerity but real difficulties ahead

By ABC-au,

Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras says that a hard-fought deal with European creditors ends the country’s austerity commitments, but the “real difficulties” lie ahead.

“We achieved much, but we have a long and difficult road ahead,” Mr Tsipras said in a nationally televised address hours after the deal was announced.

“We took a decisive step, leaving austerity, the bailouts and the troika. We won a battle, not the war. The difficulties, the real difficulties … are ahead of us.

“Yesterday’s agreement with the Eurogroup … cancels the commitments of the previous government for cuts to wages and pensions, for firings in the public sector, for VAT rises on food, medicine.”

Greece on Friday was given a crucial four-month extension to its massive debt bailout, but at the cost of concessions, including a commitment to spell out its reforms by Monday.

The reforms would be aimed at persuading Greece’s European creditors to extend further loans.

Athens received no immediate loan assistance in Friday’s deal.

The radical-left leader argued that his government had averted a “plan by blind conservative powers” at home and abroad to cause a default, and would continue to fight to “restore rule by the people” in Greece.

Eurozone deal should calm fears: Tsipras

Mr Tsipras and his Syriza party won power last month on promises to end Greece’s EU/IMF bailout program and end cooperation with the “troika” – inspectors from the European Commission, European Central Bank and IMF who have monitored Greece’s compliance with its austerity and reform commitments.

Instead Athens has been forced to accept the conditional extension of the bailout and still deal with the troika, renamed in the deal as “the three institutions”.

Mr Tsipras had been under heavy pressure to secure a deal as Greeks have been pulling huge sums out of the country’s banks, fearing the talks with eurozone finance ministers would fail and Greece would be cast adrift with the bailout due to expire on February 28.

Without naming names, he attacked conservatives at home and in the eurozone.

“Yesterday we averted plans by blind conservative powers, within and outside the country, to asphyxiate Greece on February 28,” he said.

About 1 billion euros were taken out of Greek bank accounts on Friday, a senior banker told news agency Reuters, due to savers’ fears that Athens might have to halt such withdrawals or prepare to reintroduce a national currency.

The prime minister said Friday’s extension should calm such fears.

“Greece achieved an important negotiating success in Europe. We showed determination and flexibility and in the end, we achieved our basic goal,” Mr Tsipras said.