Another Greek crisis not beneficial to anyone

A new Greek crisis will not be beneficial to anyone, Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said in a letter addressed to his European counterparts ahead of Monday's Euro Group meeting, Greek media reported on Saturday.

Albanian bank system won't be affected by neighboring Greece's crisis

Albanian Association of Banks (AAB) on Monday ruled out a direct impact of the Greek crisis on the country's banking system, stating that the banking system in Albania operates at high levels of capital adequacy and liquidity, Albanian telegraphic agency reported.

Most Greeks want deal with EU/IMF lenders and no referendum(poll)

Greeks want their government to make a deal with international lenders to unlock aid and do not favor early elections or a referendum if talks hit an impasse, an opinion poll showed on Wednesday.

Merkel urges reform within Eurozone

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned the Eurozone will not work in the long run if member states fail to closely coordinate their economic policies.
Speaking at a European Investment Bank conference in Berlin on Monday, Merkel called for major economic and financial reforms within the EU.

Banks, Greece and SME access to loans top agenda in meeting with Dijsselbloem

It is high time that finance ministers changed tack on Greece’s debt sustainability and accepted a bank resolution system that is less prone to political power games, MEPs urged at Thursday’s parliamentary hearing of Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem. The need to ease access to finance for small firms was also repeatedly raised.

Mr Dijsselbloem was fielding questions at his regular meeting with Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee MEPs.

Greece

MEPs asked whether, given possible early signs of recovery, the Eurogroup is going to make good its pledges that Greece's debt levels could be reduced more gradually, so as to enhance its growth prospects and alleviate the social consequences of austerity.

Greek top diplomats under investigation for corruption

Two ambassadors and a top diplomat are among those who are under investigation for corruption by the Greek Police Directorate on Tuesday.
In a statement released by the directorate, the Lower Court of Athens is in receipt of a corruption case file of 80 pages against eight people including the two top diplomats and a former director of the Greek Foreign Ministry's International Development Agency.

It was stated that those under investigation are alleged to have illegally obtained €9 million (US$12.3 million) via a civil society institution working on mine clearance programs in Bosnia Herzegovina, Lebanon and Iraq.

Troika leaving Greece, to return before eurogroup

The three top officials from a visiting team of debt inspectors now in Greece will leave the country later this week, a senior finance ministry official said Thursday.

Their departure, which had been previously scheduled, comes as talks between Greece and the debt inspectors over a multibillion-euro package of budget cuts drag on and appear to be falling ever further behind schedule, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

Lead or leave: Soros calls on Germany to decide its fate in the eurozone

Germany should leave the eurozone if it is not ready to step up and “lead” the union, financier George Soros said. His comment comes days before by Germany's constitutional court will take the crucial decision on the eurozone's bailout fund.
Billionaire financier and philanthropist, Soros says that by leaving, Germany will save the whole currency union and "the problems of the eurozone would get better.”