Multi-speed Europe

Latvia's Ambassador to Romania Ilgvars Klava on Tuesday said that his country endorses Romania's accession to the Schengen Area and supports the Schengen enlargement if the evaluation process is completed, adding that "all member states should be equally, fairly treated, without the adding of supplementary criteria."

Photo credit: (c) Simion MECHNO / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

By George Georgiopoulos

Greece is set to tap into more than half a billion euros of funds sitting in the country's bank rescue fund as it scrambles to find money this month amid a cash crunch, banking and government sources told Reuters on Tuesday.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Monday said Berlin was shifting in favour of Romania's admission to the EU's passport free Schengen zone.

Sepaking on an official visit in Romania, the German minister praised Romania's drive to meet the standards required to gain admission to the zone.

Bulgaria will be granted EUR 126.6 M for the next five-year period under bilateral and multilateral European Economic Area (EEA) financial mechanisms.

This emerged after political consultations between Bulgaria and Norway at the level of Deputy Foreign Ministers, which took place in Sofia on Monday, the ministry's press service reports.

 Desperate for cash, the government is asking state companies for loans, offering them a higher interest rate

By Dimitris Kontogiannis

European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker called on the European Union to recognize the gravity of the situation in Greece -- both for the country's impoverished citizens and for the wider risks to the eurozone.

European officials are concerned that not enough preparation work is being done to pave the way for Greece to submit six reform proposals to Monday?s Eurogroup and then secure part of the 7.2 billion euros in remaining bailout loans.

Chancellor Angela Merkel says shes hoping for a good future for Greece in the eurozone as Germany pushes Athens to comply fully with the terms of its financial bailout.

By Rebecca Christie

Euro-area authorities will use the next four months to figure out how to help Greece after June, when its current bailout extension expires, European Union Economic Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis met in Berlin Thursday to discuss the possible Schengen accession of the Balkan country.

"Romania has a legitimate desire to be part of the Schengen Zone. We'll see that we achieve step-by-step progress on this," Merkel said, as quoted by Deutsche Welle.