Merkel

By Patrick Donahue

Chancellor Angela Merkel said a deal with Greece is still possible provided the country is willing to follow through on promises made to creditors earlier this year.

European Parliament President Martin Schulz told a national television audience in Germany on Sunday evening that he called Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier, with both agreeing to do whatever they can to keep Greece in the Eurozone.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Tuesday denied reports that there was a rift between Chancellor Angela Merkel and himself on Greek debt negotiations.

"You shouldn't waste much time on these rumors," Schaeuble said during a panel at an economic conference organized by Merkel's conservative CDU party in Berlin.

Merkel wants Kosovo in the UN

Permanent solution of relations between Belgrade and Pristina, and Serbian acceptance of Republika Srpska's weakening will be two main requests by Angela Merkel.

By Birgit Jennen, Rainer Buergin & Brian Parkin

A split between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble is widening over Greece as the funding standoff goes down to the wire, said people familiar with the matter.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit Belgrade and meet with Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic on July 8 and 9, B92 has learned.

Merkel will ask Vucic to work on the full implementation of the Brussels agreement, which is a condition for the opening of first negotiating chapters in the process of Euro-Atlantic integrations.

Greece's finance minister called on German Chancellor Angela Merkel to give his country a «Speech of Hope», to signal Europe was ready to end its demands for austerity, similar to that given to Germany at the end of World War Two.

Accelerated developments — mostly negative — mean that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande will again speak with Greek PM Alexis Tsipras on Thursday evening (21.30 GMT), via a teleconference.

Members of a special committee at the Finance Ministry?s General Accounting Office told the parliamentary inquiry into Germany?s unpaid reparations to Greece that Athens is owed between 280 and 340 billion euros by Berlin.

German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said on Tuesday the consequences of a Greek bankruptcy would be "gigantic" for Europe, but hoped a deal could be reached to avoid such a scenario.