Greek government-debt crisis

Despite a slight delay, a Euro working group session finally commenced in Brussels on Thursday.

According to reports, there’s a possibility of convening an extraordinary session on Greece, a day before the European Council meeting on Feb. 11.

Thousands of people gathered in front of the Greek parliament in Athens on Thursday evening in support of the new government's efforts to renegotiate Greece's international loans and end austerity.

By Marius Zaharia

Greece's new SYRIZA government spent its first week in power trying to make friends with European policymakers and wary investors. The firm that says it is one of Athens's largest private creditors is already on board.

Greek central bank governor Yannis Stournaras said on Thursday that Greek banks were solid and under control, a day after the European Central Bank denied them use of Greek bonds as collateral for loans.

"Deposits and liquidity are absolutely safe," Stournaras, who is also a member of the European Central Bank's Governing Council, told reporters.

Bank of Greece (BoG) Gov. Yiannis Stournaras reiterated on Thursday that “bank deposits as safe as ever”, dismissing rumour-mongering aimed at the domestic banking sector.

Vladimir Putin was the latest world leader to call and congratulate new Greek PM Alexis Tsipras, with a Kremlin official saying on Thursday that Russia’s “unofficial Czar” phoned and even invited the Greek leftist to Moscow.

By Xenia Kounalaki

?It was great. There were people jumping up and down,? said the young American journalist, one of an estimated 800 people working for the foreign press who came to Athens to cover Greece?s national election. She was describing the scene when newly elected Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras?s gave his first speech.

The European Commission foresees a modest growth of 0.8 % for the Bulgarian economy in 2015 and a further 1 % growth in 2016.

This became evident from the Commission's Winter Economic Forecast, which was released on Thursday.

According to it, Bulgaria registered an economic growth of 1.4 % in 2014, which is an increase of 0.2 % compared to an earlier estimate.

By Padraic Halpin & Conor Humphries

DUBLIN - Europe and the "undemocratic" European Central Bank risk fueling the growth of right-wing parties across the continent if they ignore the will of the Greek people, Gerry Adams, leader of Ireland's leftist Sinn Fein said on Thursday.