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"We won a battle but not the war," Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said in a statement to the Greek people after reaching an agreement with the Eurogroup.

"The real hardships, and not only those concerning our negotiations with the partners, are ahead of us," said Tsipras. He spoke of "an initial framework agreement as part of the memorandum and thereafter – a development plan of our own"; he also mentioned a "change of direction" for Greece within Europe.

"This is an agreement, which practically revokes the commitments of the former government to cut wages, to lay off civil servants, to increase VAT on foodstuffs, drugs and tourist services. The agreement also terminates the austerity regime and its mechanisms, e.g. the primary budget surpluses. The agreement creates an institutional framework for applying the necessary reforms; it also covers the fight against corruption and tax invasion, the reforming of the administration and alleviating the humanitarian crisis," the PM added.

Arrows against Samaras’ government

Tsipras also slammed Samaras’ government: "About 20 days ago, we got a country on the edge, with empty coffers and no liquidity. On top of that, the country was trapped in a deliberately stifling timeframe because some had concocted a scenario, without so much as to think about its impact on the already weakened economy and a homeland already plundered by the memoranda," he said and added: "Yesterday (Friday), we cancelled those plans. We frustrated the plan of the blind, conservative forces, in and outside the country, to suffocate Greece on 28 February. We kept Greece upright."

Tsipras qualified the day of agreement as "more important for Europe than for Greece"; he also emphasised that his government had proven that Europe was an area for negotiation and mutual compromise rather than an area of destruction, obedience and blind punishment.

"The negotiations are moving into a new, substantial stage, until a final agreement is achieved for a transition from the policy of memoranda to a policy of development, job creation and social unity."

In conclusion, Tsipras maintained: "In this decisive battle …. the Greek government’s resolution is even firmer. Our main objective is to restore the national and the people’s rule. We only have a single ally and assistant, but also a demanding judge – the Greek people. An ally, but also an active participant in the great effort for political change and social salvation. Our common fight goes on."

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Finance Minister Yannis Varoufakis informed the government about the agreement with the Eurogroup. According to the ministers, this was the first time that the Greek government negotiated in earnest and achieved significant benefits. The plan of reforms, which will be presented to the Eurogroup, was also mooted.

In response to the prime minister's statement, New Democracy came up with a statement of their own. It calls on the agreement "a retreat on all fronts and abandonment of all election promises by Tsipras' government".

Here are some of the points listed in New Democracy’s statement:

• The agreement with the Euro group averted the breakup in the 11th hour, even though it left a great deal to be resolved during the next few months.
• What was granted was a four-month extension. And what was ‘extended’ is the current programme, i.e. the memorandum, now reinventing itself as … an arrangement!
• Contrary to the initial request of the Greek finance minister for a bridging programme designed so that Greece got cash without any commitments, what was achieved at the end of the day was a prolongation of the current programme, i.e. the memorandum, without any cash at all before progress is evaluated.
• The government went along with the current target for the primary budget surplus, accompanied with a promise that in 2015, in particular, "the economic conditions will be taken into account."
• The budget surplus target is being sold as the top achievement, but the Eurogroup statement said it was going to be 3%. The Greek finance minister talked about creative ambiguity, but unfortunately ambiguities typically are the weapon of the stronger side in negotiations.
• No mechanism has been envisaged for assistance from the ECB and ELA to fill current cash gaps for the government, which will open wider as early as March. The government also vowed to stick to previous commitments to creditors. I.e. the nominal ‘debt cutting’ is ultimately buried!
• The €11 billion remainder in the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund can only be used for bank recapitalisation rather than for footing additional budget bills.
• All representatives of SYRIZA, including Tsipras, had promised they would use these 11 billion to alleviate the situation of society rather than that of bankers. This promise was obliterated with their signatures under the agreement. Most importantly, instead of using the € 11 billion to cushion the safety credit line, which we had planned to snatch the country entirely out of the memoranda, the sum was taken out of the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund’s control to be used at the discretion of the European Financial Stability Facility – only if the Greek banks need more cash over again.
• This solution opens the road towards a new loan, i.e. a new memorandum (arrangement), which will entail strict oversight by what was previously known as the troika, now to be called ‘the three institutions’!
• The government practically remains in the same corner as the previous government. With two important additional drags. Firstly, this government is headed towards a new memorandum while previous one was headed out of the current memorandum. Secondly, this government's lack of resolution slowed down the country's economic development, substantially upset bank deposits and undercut the rating of the Greek credit worthiness.
• It is worth pointing out that €25 billion have already been withdrawn from the banks. ELA’s price tag is already 30 times higher (1.5% instead of 0.05%). Unemployment is again on its way up.
• If you dub this ‘negotiation’, how do you name the fiasco?

For their part, SYRIZA’s leaders claim that Greece has turned the page through difficult, and, perhaps for the first time, genuine negotiations. According to them, Samaras is to blame for the crash of the memorandum and the attempts to trap the new government. "The negotiations are not finished, they will continue with greater determination, while society stands behind us," said SYRIZA.