Merkel welcomes 'compromise' made by EU and Greece

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel described the agreement to extend Greece's international bailout as a "starting point" for negotiations with the new, leftist-led Greek government, saying on Wednesday both sides had proved willing to make compromises. "I welcome the fact that we have found a starting point for negotiations with the new government. That is gratifying when you see what was being talked about weeks ago," she told a news conference with visiting Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven. "In the last few days we managed to show we are all able to make compromises, which is not unimportant, though it is far from being everything," she said, emphasising the importance of Greece having agreed to extend the existing bailout programme. (Reporting by Stephen Brown, Madeline Chambers and Andreas Rinke)