Syriza

"Intensive talks on a loan deal with debt-strapped Greece are "making progress," Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem said Tuesday.

"We are intensively busy with the Greeks and we are making progress, I would say cautiously," Dijsselbloem told local television station RTL Z.

The 1st Cannabis Festival aimed at legalizing cannabis use in Greece was rendered a success on May 9. An international conference is being organized under the aegis of the Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) government. Greek pro-cannabis activists point that legalization of the drug would only benefit the national economy, lining state coffers.

The Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) is 21% ahead of the main conservative opposition party according to an opinion poll by Macedonia University on behalf of SKAI TV measuring voting intent.

Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said on Monday in an interview with “Sto Eniko” on private STAR TV that the Greek government received a mandate to negotiate with its international creditors from the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund. He said that the government did not want a rupture with these institutions.

Former Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Simeon Djankov is among the key lecturers at the Emergency Economic Summit for Greece scheduled to take place on May 19 in Athens.

The summit is organized by the US-based NGO the Atlas Network, the Cato Institute, and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom.

The European Commission document by EC President Jean-Claude Juncker outlining a compromise for Greece is seen as a positive sign for the Greek Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) government as it comes at the eleventh hour just as the country’s funds are running so low that it is dubious that it

Outspoken Greek DM Panos Kammenos on Monday called the resurgent issue of illegal immigration via the Mediterranean a “matter of defence” for the European Union.

Government officials indicated on Monday that the thorny issue of pension reform, one of Greece?s key ?red lines? in negotiations with creditors, would be put off until the fall after a series of statements by prominent SYRIZA officials suggested the government had backed down on pre-election pledges to protect pensions.

The government will hold a referendum if it is given a ?take it or leave it? offer by Greece?s lenders, according to SYRIZA?s parliamentary spokesman Nikos Filis.

?Negotiations are entering a crucial few days,? Filis told Skai TV on Monday morning.

BY Paul Tugwell & Rebecca Christie

Greece?s government said it won?t back down on election pledges to end austerity even while seeking to agree on a deal with creditors as soon as this week to unblock financing and avert a default.