Brussels

Bild on Friday claimed a 'mix up' in the letters sent by Athens to request a loan agreement extension was the reason behind Wolfgang Schaeuble's surly 'nein', something however, the SYRIZA government categorically denied.

BRUSSELS - European Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn dismissed the claims by Pristina officials that the restrictive visa regime has caused the surge of illegal migration from Kosovo-Metohija (KiM).

Ivica Da?i?: Albania must respect OSCE

Chairman of OSCE and chief of Serbian diplomacy Ivica Da?i? asked Albanians to respect the principles of OSCE and "not to worry about the talks between Belgrade, Pri?tina and the EU".

By Jan Strupczewski & Renee Maltezou

Greece's leftist prime minister said on Friday he was certain eurozone finance ministers would accept Athens' request for an extended loan but Germany demanded "significant improvements" in Greek reform commitments.

For the third time in a little more than a week, 19 European finance ministers gathered in Brussels Friday to try to cut through the rhetoric and hammer out some way for debt-plagued Greece to stay in the euro.

Arriving for what promises to be another tense Eurogroup summit in Brussels on Friday, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said the Greek government "has gone not the extra mile" but "the extra 10 miles" in honoring the demands of the country's creditors.

"Hopefully at the end of this we?ll come out with some white smoke," he said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel indicated that "improvements" were needed to the substance of a proposal submitted by Greece for an extension to its loan agreement a few hours before a crucial meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels.

"Building strong opposition challenge in reforms"

BRUSSELS -- Building a strong opposition is one of the main challenges in reforming Serbia , Social Democratic Party (SDS) party leader Boris Tadic said on Friday.

The reason for this is "major asymmetry between the government and the opposition that constitutes a threat to political stability."

By Paul Tugwell and Nikos Chrysoloras

Germany and its allies are ready to let Greece leave the euro unless Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accepts the conditions required to extend his country?s financial support, according to Malta?s finance minister, Edward Scicluna.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told Reuters on Friday he is "certain" his government's request for a six-month loan extension would be accepted despite Berlin's objections and called for a "historic political decision" to seal a deal.