Angela Merkel

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic will in the coming period travel to the United States and Albania and host German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Belgrade.

Speaking on Thursday, Vucic said that he finds the tasks to be carried out in Serbia to be "more important."

Greece?s partners and creditors were considering extending the country?s existing bailout program until the fall, Germany?s Suddeutsche Zeitung reported.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said May 21 a return of Russia to the Group of Seven major industrialised democracies was "unimaginable" as long as it flouts international law in Ukraine.

As Greek government officials expressed their confidence that a deal with the country?s creditors is close, top European officials indicated Tuesday that although there has been progress in negotiations, an agreement is unlikely before the end of the month.

"Intensive talks on a loan deal with debt-strapped Greece are "making progress," Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem said Tuesday.

"We are intensively busy with the Greeks and we are making progress, I would say cautiously," Dijsselbloem told local television station RTL Z.

Greek PM Alexis Tsipras will be meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, in Riga, Latvia, during the Summit.

Merkel and Hollande stated that negotiations with Greece must be sped up, during a meeting in Berlin on Tuesday, while the French President underlined that Greece’s place is in the Euro.

By Rainer Buergin, Birgit Jennen & Arne Delfs

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is trying to head off a potential revolt from as much as a third of her bloc's lawmakers as she tries to up line support for a compromise deal with Greece, party officials said.

The EC stated that political deliberations to take place in Riga on Thursday will not replace the importance of technical negotiations.

The Latvian capital will host European leaders including EC President Jean-Claude Juncker, European Council president Donald Tusk, European Parliament President Martin Schultz, and others.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel ruled out war reparations to the Greek state. Instead, she is in favor of joint projects through a “fund with the future”. The program will have an annual budget worth 1 million euros as a gesture of atonement for Nazi atrocities in Greece during World War II.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has sung with Turkish children at a school in Berlin. "Who is this?" she asked a student who held a cell phone, pointing to photo of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk on its cover.