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Berlin • Greece's prime minister said Friday he wanted to reward Greeks who have made "enormous sacrifices in the name of Europe" as he visited German Chancellor Angela Merkel amid an argument about a Christmas bonus payment for low-earning pensioners.
The bonus plan prompted creditors to suspend a new debt-relief deal reached only last week. The government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras insists it is not breaching the terms of its bailout deal, but European creditors say Athens should have sought clearance first.
Tsipras said he would brief Merkel about "the positive development of the Greek economy" during their meeting in Berlin.
"Our vision is that this development and this growth affects not just statistics or figures, but that the wounds of the crisis can be treated, can be overcome, and also (that growth) can be helpful to all those who have made enormous sacrifices in the name of Europe and in the name of European stability," Tsipras said.
That, he added, will require patience and also "courageous decisions on the part of all European partners."
He didn't explicitly mention the bonus payment, though he said after a European Union summit in Brussels on Thursday that Germany was the only country to question it. He also didn't address a pledge to restore a lower sales tax rate for Aegean Sea islanders struggling to cope with mass arrivals of migrants from Turkey.
Merkel said the two leaders would discuss the bailout program but "this isn't the place where decisions will be made," insisting that's a matter for the institutions overseeing the program and for EU finance ministers.
Tsipras and Merkel took no questions.
Before the meeting, Tsipras spoke on the phone with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to discuss the Greek program, Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said.
A week-long round of bailout talks in Athens between the Greek government, its European creditors and the International Monetary Fund concluded Friday, and Schinas said talks would continue from EU headquarters.
Greek stocks rebounded Friday after three days of losses, and the Athens stock exchange benchmark general index was up 4.2 percent in late afternoon trading.