Venizelos

Cyprus officials were mulling a response late Monday after a Turkish survey boat encroached on an area off the island’s southern coast, further escalating tension in the ever-volatile region.

Deputy Prime Minister and PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos warned party officials on Friday to be prepared for early elections and indicated that the Socialists would be open to being part of a new coalition government.

Greece urges Serbia and Albania to "strengthen stability"

ATHENS -- The Greek government hopes that the governments of Albania and Serbia will "in words and deeds" work to strengthen regional stability.

Athens also hopes for "respect of borders and European perspective of all countries of the region."

“We do not have a problem with jihadists in Greece, but there is a problem in our wider area,” stated Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Deputy Premier Evangelos Venizelos are due to meet on Wednesday to discuss the negotiations with the troika, which began on Tuesday but were overshadowed by friction within the government.

It is up to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to make the “next steps” needed to solve its name dispute with Greece, said Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos after meeting his counterpart from the neighboring country, Nikola Poposki, in New York late on Friday.

Talks between Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Friday focused on the prospects for a settlement to the Cyprus problem amid a new peace push, with Venizelos underlining the importance of “encouraging dialogue.”

A few days before troika inspectors return to Athens for their fifth review of Greece’s economic reform program, sources in Brussels have expressed skepticism about a Greek bid to lower fiscal targets while indicating that certain concessions could be granted but that the country must remain under supervision.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos met with representatives of American Jewish organizations in New York on Monday, the Foreign Ministery announced on Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos has denied that Athens has been tipped of by American authorities about jihadis being trained in Greece or leaving the country to fight abroad.