Frankfurter Allgemeine

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has ruled out a possible alleviation of Italy's credit burden and, in an interview with the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, she explained that the principle of solidarity between Eurozone members should not transform the currency union into a debt-sharing instrument, Reuters , quoted by Focus.

Athens did not appear particularly troubled Monday by what has been viewed as the tough stance of new German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz during his meeting last week with his Greek counterpart Euclid Tsakalotos.

The Greek Foreign Ministry on Monday issued a harsh response to a commentary in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Sunday which painted a negative picture of the prospects for Greece's return to financial health. 

The European Commission released a statement stressing its services were aware of the decision by the Greek archaeological council in relation to the designation of an area at the former airport at Hellinikon as an archaeological site.

Even though Denmark has already voted against dropping the krone for the euro, the European Commission may coerce the country to adopt the European single currency, reports German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

The notes leaked from last week's meeting in Strasbourg revealed the EU Commission wants all 27 members of the bloc to adopt the euro by 2025.

It was during the Soviet Union's heyday that Joseph Stalin introduced the political term "useful idiot" to describe that category of citizens who embraced and upheld Moscovite policy with innocent intentions.

Eurozone chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem came under increasing pressure Wednesday to step down for what many see as derogatory comments about southern debt-ridden nations that have sought outside help to emerge from financial crisis.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias will hold talks with his German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel in Athens Thursday.

A joint press conference will take place after the meeting at around 2 p.m.

Germany's outgoing Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has been elected President of the country, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports.

Steinmeier's bid was backed by both social-democrat SPD party and Merkel's conservative CDU, which did not nominate its own candidate. He was widely expected to win.

The Social Democrats (SPD) are narrowing the edge of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) of German Chancellor Angela Merkel before the general election in September, a survey shows.

The CDU would get 33% and the SPD would receive 32% of the vote, the figures projecting the center-left party's highest result since April 2006.