Greek PM vows to 'start working hard' after German vote

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras vowed Friday to "start working hard" to implement vital reforms in the stricken eurozone country, after Germany's parliament approved a four-month extension to its bailout.

"Greece has overcome a difficult obstacle. This is the time for the reforms that our country needs and which no government ever sought, because there were commitments with powerful interests," Tsipras told the Euronews television channel in an interview.

"The German parliament gave Europe a vote of confidence today... Europe has now recognised that Greece has turned a new page... We start working hard, in order to change Greece within a Europe that changes direction," he added.

Tsipras's "government of social salvation" would now start "the relentless effort to recover fiscal and social justice and, at the same time, to increase public revenues," the left-winger who was elected last month said.

This will include making sure all Greeks pay their share in taxes, building an effective public administration and the "collapse" of cartels, meritocracy, transparency, equal opportunities, "social sensitivity" and the rule of law.

Greece's creditors on Tuesday approved the extension to Greece's 240-billion-euro ($270-billion) bailout programme in a response to a list of proposed reforms that it needs to firm up in the next two months.