European Union

The arduous negotiations between the EU and Greece over a temporary loan to resolve Athens? bailout crisis has reawakened fears of a "Grexit", or Greek exit from the single currency bloc.

Here are in three questions some of the issues at stake:

The Greek government dismissed reactions out of Berlin on Thursday after the most recent attempt by the former to reach a deal with eurozone creditors.

"Brussels decides, not Berlin" was the laconic response by a high-ranking Greek government official on Thursday to Berlin's "nein" of a same-day request by Athens for a six-month extension of the country's loan agreement.

Germany rejected a request by Athens Thursday for a six-month extension to its EU loan program, denting hopes that Europe and Greece can find a quick solution to a bitter debt row.

BELGRADE - Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic conferred with the delegation of the European Investment Bank (EIB) on Thursday concerning the realisation of infrastructure projects in Serbia, and underscored that the goal of the Serbian government is to accelerate the pace of project realisation.

A six-month extension of Greece's bailout program is "not a substantial proposal for a solution", Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has said.

In his words, the letter "does not meet the criteria" forged by the Eurogroup earlier this week.

BELGRADE - UK Ambassador to Serbia Denis Keefe has said that 2015 is a year of great challenges, in which the adopted regulations and measures should be put in place, and added that Serbia should work on creating a healthy media environment.

The EC approved on Thursday the Operational Programme Good Governance, which foresees the allocation of EUR 336 M for improving the public administration and transparency of the judiciary in Bulgaria.

The majority of the funds (EUR 286 M) will be provided by the EU budget through the European Social Fund (ESF) for the 2014-2020 programme period.

A request for the six-month extension of Greece's loan agreement with its European partners was submitted on Thursday morning by the Greek Government to Brussels, to secure a "protection umbrella for Greece's banking system."

By Nikos Chrysoloras

The Greek government asked its euro-region creditors to extend for six months the Master Financial Assistance Facility Agreement underpinning its bailout, according to a copy of the letter seen by Bloomberg News.