Greece: "we won the battle, but not the war"

The Greek prime minister says a new agreement to extend the country’s bailout voids the previous administration’s austerity commitments. The politician said, “we won the battle, but not the war,” but believes further difficulties lie ahead.

Alexis Tsipras made the comments in a televised statement on Saturday. He spoke of the “important success” of Greece being able to negotiate a funding agreement with eurozone ministers, which will see the bailout extended by four months.

The PM hailed this as, “the end of austerity and the bailout,” as Athens was able to severe ties with the ‘hated’ Troika group, which was responsible for making sure the country stuck to its bailout conditions and repay its international creditors.

"We won a battle, but not the war. The difficulties lie ahead of us,'' he said, following an agreement to draft a new set of proposals and reform measures on how the country will pay back its debt, which it will have to present on Monday. Greek Prime Minister Tsipras is meeting with his cabinet on Saturday to discuss the proposals.

“The four-month period will be a time to rebuild new relations with Europe and the IMF," Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis told reporters on Friday following the agreement. "Greece has turned the page" and won some time to negotiate a better bailout deal, the official said, emphasizing that Greece had not used any threats or bluffs to reach an interim agreement.