Multi-speed Europe

BBC’s Jontly Bloom reminisces her time in front of a TV camera on a hot rooftop overlooking the Greek Parliament six months earlier. Back then, the world was focused on the future of Greece and whether it would eventually result in a forced ejection from the eurozone.

Greece's international creditors on Dec. 22 handed over a payment of 1 billion euros under the terms of its third bailout program after Athens met their demands for further tough economic reforms.

The European Stability Mechanism, the 19-nation eurozone's bailout fund, said the funds will help Athens repay debt, balance the budget and finance projects.

The Board of Directors of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) on Tuesday authorized the disbursement of €1 billion to Greece. This disbursement, which follows the Greek government’s completion of the second set of reform milestones, will be used by the government for debt service, budget financing, and co-financing projects funded by EU structural funds.

With the Schengen borderless area going through "a challenge", it is not the right moment for Bulgaria to insist on joining, Austria's Ambassador to the country, Roland Hauser, has said.

European Stability Mechanism Chief Klaus Regling told German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that he cannot guarantee that the prevention of a Grexit from the eurozone. The Grexit-obsessed officials who has made similar comments in the past, admitted that at the moment Grexit is not under discussion because Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is doing his job.

291 lawmakers in Greece sanctioned an omnibus bill of 13 prior actions with 153 voting in favor, 138 voted against.

The new bill gives the right to sell bad business loans from local banks to overseas distress funds as part of a new austerity bill demanded by bailout lenders from the rest of the eurozone.

The draft on the results of the Council summit which will be held on Thursday and Friday will include strict recommendations to Greece, as Kathimerini newspaper reports.

The draft document mentions that the program is insufficient and should be accelerated and in order to preserve the Schengen area, it is necessary to re-establish control of external borders.

European Stability Mechanism (ESM) fund chief, Klaus Regling, and Euro Working Group (EWG) head, Thomas Wieser, both maintain that Greece cannot remove the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from its economic bailout on Sunday. Regling added that the possibility of a Greek eurozone exit remains if reforms are not made.

With the EU clearing the path for the opening of at least one of the five chapters currently closed in Turkey's long-stalled accession process, Ankara has turned its attention to a series of legislative reforms. 

Greece, like other countries, was not ready at the beginning to deal with the huge flow of refugees, Commissioner for Immigration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos pointed out at TA NEA newspaper. However, he has recently seen efforts to be accelerated.