Following his meeting on Thursday with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, European Parliament President Martin Schulz told protothema.gr that he was “surprised” by some of the things the leftist leader told him.

Asked whether he would characterize his meeting with the Greek PM as successful, Schulz responded that, although he wasn’t sure “successful” was the right word, their conversation was definitely interesting and sensitive.

“I was surprised by some of the things Alexis Tsipras said,” the EU parliament president noted, although he generally appeared optimistic over the prospect of reaching a mutually satisfying agreement between the Greek government and the troika of the country’s international creditors.