German Economy Minister Says Greece Should Not Burden Europe With Its Internal Political Debates

The German economy minister has said that Greece must respect the terms of its international bailout, and that the “troika” of international lenders was not to blame for economic inequality in the country.

Sigmar Gabriel, the German minister for economic affairs, also said that Greece should not burden the rest of Europe with its internal political debates, and said that the cash-strapped nation was responsible for problems that it tried to blame on international lenders, according to Reuters.

"All democratic people must respect the democratic decision of voters and a newly elected government's right to decide its course -- but the rest of Europe's citizens should not have to expect changes in Greek politics to burden them," he reportedly said.

The newly elected Greek government has suggested that it will renegotiate the terms of the country's multibillion-dollar bailout with the euro zone countries, the IMF and the European Central Bank. The country has endured years of austerity since accepting the bailout, which has become deeply unpopular with its citizens.

The comments came as Greek newspapers revealed details of the new government's plans for debt renegotiation. The BBC's Yannis Koutsomitis tweeted that the country's Syriza Party-led government would seek growth-based loan payments, and lower primary surpluses with balanced budgets.

He added, however, that a stumbling block would be the Greek government's need to extent the bailout agreements, which it will have to do in order to pay government staff as early as March 2015. Koutsomitis said that “hardliners will never accept this.”

Greece's government debt stands at 323 billion euros ($366 billion), over 175 percent of the country's GDP, according to CNN.

The new government, which was elected to office Sunday, has already announced plans to stop the planned sale of the state’s majority stake in Greece’s largest port and power provider, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The country's new Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras promised to avoid a standoff with creditors as international markets plunged when faced with the prospect of a Greek government in conflict with its international creditors.

“There will neither be a catastrophic clash, nor will continued kowtowing be accepted,” Tsipras, 40, said on Wednesday, according to Bloomberg. The new Greek leadership “will not be forgiven” if it betrays its pre-election pledges to renegotiate the terms of the country’s bailout, he said.