Greece

By George Georgiopoulos & Alistair Macdonald

Greece's left-wing government insisted on Saturday it had avoided being "strangled" by the eurozone, which agreed in principle to extend a financial rescue deal as nervous savers pulled huge sums from Greek banks.

Greece's radical left government was at pains Feb. 21 to put a positive face on an EU compromise deal that is sharply at odds with its anti-austerity ambitions.
 
At a last-ditch meeting on Feb. 20, Europe gave Athens some breathing room to present alternative reforms in a bid to save its crucial financial lifeline.
 

Jonathan Stearns & Rebecca Christie

Euro-area finance ministers reached a provisional deal intended to keep aid flowing to Greece in return for a commitment to budget targets, buying time to work out the detail of longer-term Greek financing.

The Greek government characterizes the deal between Greece and the EU as historic, stating that it marks the end of austerity and memoranda in Europe.

Even though the government recognizes that there is still a long way to go, it considers that it has avoided immediate funding failure, buying some time by the end of April.

Following the deal between Greece and the Eurogroup, the Prime Minister’s office issued an announcement stating that today Greece has turned over a new leaf.

In the announcement, the four-month extension of the loan agreement gets characterized by Mr. Alexis Tsipras associates as an Interim Agreement.

During a press conference immediately following Friday’s Eurogroup meeting, Greek FinMin Yanis Varoufakis made the following statements:

- Negotiation aims to reach an agreement, that means being prepared for both mutual compromise but also for possible rifts.

By Jonathan Stearns & Jeff Black

Euro-area finance ministers reached a provisional deal intended to keep aid flowing to Greece in return for a commitment to continued economic reforms, buying time to work out the detail of longer-term Greek financing.

The Education Ministry said on Friday that, contrary to previous statements, it does not have plans to shut down 60 experimental and model schools across the country.

?We refute rumors that the political leadership of the Education Ministry intends to scrap experimental and model schools,? the ministry said.

By Paul Tugwell and Nikos Chrysoloras

Germany and its allies are ready to let Greece leave the euro unless Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accepts the conditions required to extend his country?s financial support, according to Malta?s finance minister, Edward Scicluna.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told Reuters on Friday he is "certain" his government's request for a six-month loan extension would be accepted despite Berlin's objections and called for a "historic political decision" to seal a deal.