Reuters

Greece will not tolerate any illegal entries of migrants through its borders and will increase its border security, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Friday.
Migrants and refugees started gathering at the Greek-Turkish land border after Turkey warned that it would let out thousands of refugees stuck in the country since a 2016 accord between Ankara and the European Union.

The Turkish economy grew 6 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter and nearly 1 percent in 2019 as a whole, data showed Friday, beating expectations with a strong rebound from recession as it shakes off the effects of the 2018 currency crisis.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis discussed the situation in Turkey and the movement of migrants towards Greek borders during a call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the prime minister's office said.

Mitsotakis briefed Merkel over Greece's initiatives, it said. [Reuters]

Greek private sector bank deposits fell in January after a rise in December, central bank data showed on Thursday.

Businesses and household deposits dropped to 141.15 billion euros from 143.14 billion in December, Bank of Greece data showed.

Greek banks have seen deposit inflows over the space of more than two years.

The European Union could open accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia within weeks as both countries have made good progress in their preparations, the European Commission's enlargement chief, Oliver Varhelyi, said on Thursday.

Eurozone money markets started to fully price in a December European Central Bank interest rate cut on Wednesday, as the spread of the new coronavirus outside China pushed traders to ramp up expectations for more stimulus.
Greek government bonds led a Southern European sell-off as the risk-off tone prevailed on Wednesday.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the United States had not yet provided support to Turkey in Syria's Idlib region and that he would need to speak to US President Donald Trump about the issue again, broadcaster CNN Turk reported on Wednesday.

Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece defended his title with a 6-3, 6-4 victory against Felix Auger-Aliassime in the Open 13 Provence final on Sunday in Marseille, France.

The No. 2 seed broke the seventh-seeded Canadian three times and saved four of five break points in the 86-minute match.

Turkey has decided to exempt visa requirements for citizens from European Union countries Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland, as well Britain, for tourism up to 90 days as of March 2, the Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

Greece's current account deficit shrank in December 2019 compared with the same month a year earlier, the Bank of Greece said on Thursday.

Central bank data showed the deficit was 0.54 billion euros ($582.98 million), down from 1.514 billion euros in December 2018. Tourism revenues increased to 289 million euros from 272 million in the same month in 2018.