Greek government-debt crisis

The German Finance Ministry holds a negative view of the prospect of Greece paying off its debt to the International Monetary Fund early, according to a report in German financial newspaper Handelsblatt on Friday.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras insisted on Friday after the European Union summit in Brussels that despite Europe's difficulties, Greece has, through the sacrifices of its people, upgraded its prestige and its role in international developments and has surprised its EU partners with the performance of its economy.

Former German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, widely regarded as the architect of austerity in eurozone crisis countries, said in an interview in the Financial Times on Friday that Greece should have taken a 10-year timeout from the bloc.

A candidate with ruling SYRIZA in the upcoming European parliamentary elections dropped out of the race on Friday following a public outcry over the fact that she has been convicted of fraud against the state.

Greece's conservative opposition has called on Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to remove Myrsini Loizou from SYRIZA's ticket ahead of the upcoming European Parliament elections following reports that the leftist candidate has been convicted of collecting the retirement pension of her deceased mother.

Europe's progressive forces have a responsibility to prevent the election of German politician Manfred Weber, the lead candidate of the European People's Party (EPP) for the position of president of the European Commission, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told a meeting of the Party of European Socialists (PES) in Brussels on Thursday. 

Europe's progressive forces have a responsibility to prevent the election of Manfred Weber, the European Peoples Party's (EPP) lead candidate for the upcoming European elections, as president of the European Commission, said Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras Thursday.

The early repayment of Greece's loans from the International Monetary Fund is a decision the Greek authorities will make, said IMF spokesman Gerry Rice on Thursday, while noting that this would require the consent of the country's other official creditors.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece said it was open to the continuation of dialogue with the state but stressed that it will not accept any changes to the salary status of clerics.

The agreement between Greece's leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Archbishop Ieronymos was a dead letter even before the latter acknowledged the deal was at a "dead end."

Unfortunately, yet another opportunity for the separation of the Church of Greece and the state, which would have been of mutual benefit for both sides, has fallen by the wayside.