German European affairs minister to visit Athens on Friday

Germany's European Affairs minister, Michael Roth (photo), will visit Athens to meet his Greek counterpart Nikos Chountis on Friday, the Greek foreign ministry said on Thursday.

It would be the first visit to Greece by a German minister since Greeks elected the radical left-wing government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

Greece and Germany are currently at an impasse over Tsipras's demands for an end to European-imposed austerity and a renegotiation of Greece's debt burden.

[Reuters]