European Commission

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker accused Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Sunday of distorting proposals by international creditors for a cash-for-reform deal to save Athens from default and urged him to put forward alternative proposals swiftly to allow negotiations this week.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta, at the Palace of Parliament on Sunday, said that Romania is not in a political crisis, but that this situation could be reached if we didn't have a government and early elections were organised.

A new trilateral meeting between Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande is to take place in Brussels on Wednesday. The meeting was decided following a half-hour teleconference call between Tsipras, Merkel and Hollande shortly before 9 p.m. on Saturday, on the eve of the G7 summit.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker declined on Saturday to take a phone call from Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras because Athens has not yet sent in reform proposals that it promised for Thursday, an EU official said.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was spurned by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Saturday because Athens had not sent in reform proposals that it promised for Thursday. The EU official confirmed that Tsipras had requested a phone call for 11.00 CET on Saturday but Juncker declined due to a lack of progress in discussions.

With a few days left before he loses his seat as minister and quits active politics, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Y?ld?z said Turkey is considering becoming an equity partner in the Turkish Stream project, as Russia?s Gazprom is likely to start construction of the natural gas pipeline by the end of June. 

A long-planned scheme for the pedestrianization of Panepistimiou Street in central Athens appeared to have been finally scuppered on Friday after the Council of State upheld an appeal by the former head of the Technical Chamber of Greece, Ioannis Alavanos, and another 55 citizens expressing concerns about its potential environmental impact.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told Parliament on Friday that the proposals of the country's lenders are ?unrealistic? but that he still believes the government is close to achieving an agreement with the institutions.

European officials were on Friday waiting for a signal from Athens that would allow stalled bailout negotiations to resume, with one eye on the outcome of last night?s party leaders? debate in Parliament for indications of what is likely to be included in Greece?s counterproposal to creditors.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras have discussed over the phone the planned construction of a pipeline that will carry Russian natural gas to Turkey and Greece.