Politics of the European Union

A eurozone emergency summit on Greece's debt crisis later Monday may only take the form of "consultations" if Athens' creditors haven't approved Greece's latest proposals, a German government spokesman warned.

EU foreign ministers formally approved Monday the launch of the first phase of a military operation to target people smugglers in the Mediterranean, officials said.

The initial ships and aircraft to conduct intelligence gathering missions should be available within a week, officials said.

Foreign ministers of the EU agreed to extend for six months sanctions imposed on Russia "for violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine."

The decision was unanimous, according a spokeswoman for EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Federica Mogherini.

EU foreign ministers formally approved June 21, the launch of the first phase of a military operation against people smugglers in the Mediterranean, officials said.

ECB President Mario Draghi called for a quantum leap in European and Monetary Union (EMU) integration and presented a report published by the presidents of five EU institutions. The report, titled “Completing Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union”, had been commissioned by leaders at the Euro Summit last October.

EU Special Representative in Pristina Samuel Zbogar has presented his proposal for the resolution of the dispute concerning the bridge in Kosovska Mitrovica.

Zbogar presented this to participants of the technical dialogue in Brussels, said Maja Kocijancic, spokesperson for EU High Representative Federica Mogherini.

The European Commission has suggested member states to open a new chapter in Turkey's stalled EU membership talks, a senior diplomatic source told Anadolu Agency on June 12.

By Eleni Varvitsiotis

Brussels - The Greek government has been given 24 hours to come up with its own counter-proposals to the ones already made by the institutions with the aim of reaching an agreement to unlock 7.2 billion euros in bailout funds.

“Stop gambling” was the message sent to the Greek government on Thursday, while Reuters reported that the entire Greek delegation was headed home only a day after hopes were raised for some type of framework deal to free up bailout cash.

French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday urged Greece and its EU-IMF creditors to move fast to secure a long delayed deal to unlock urgently needed bailout cash by the end of the month.