After a tumultuous first week during which his left-leaning government made clear it intends to keep campaign promises to ditch the tough austerity conditions imposed under its existing bailout, the emphasis this week appears to be on maintaining that a deal is still possible.

"We are in substantial negotiations with our partners in Europe and those that have lent to us. We have obligations towards them," Tsipras said at a news conference in Cyprus during his first foreign visit as prime minister.

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Michel Sapin said France was ready to help Greece settle with its creditors.

Mr Varoufakis is in London on Monday for similar talks with the UK Chancellor George Osborne.

Ahead of the meeting, Mr Osborne said that he welcomed the opportunity to "discuss face to face with Yanis Varoufakis the stability of the European economy and how to boost its growth".

Mr Varoufakis is to travel to Rome next on his trip around Europe's capitals and financial hubs.

His comments follow remarks on Saturday by new Greek PM Alexis Tsipras, who said he was confident Greece could reach a deal with creditors.
 

To read more, please visit bbc.com

“At some point, there has to be a growth strategy in order to pay off their debts and eliminate some of their deficits.

“There is no doubt that the economy of Greece was in dire need of reform,” he said in the interview broadcast on Sunday. “Tax collection was famously terrible. In order for Greece to compete in the world markets, they had to initiate a series of changes.”

However, the US president underlined that it is very difficult to carry out reforms when a country’s economy has contracted dramatically. Greece saw almost a quarter of its GDP disappear between 2008 and 2014.

“It’s very hard to initiate those changes if people’s standards of living are dropping by 25 percent,” he said. “Over time, the political system and society cannot sustain it.”

Obama also made reference to the compromise that would be needed by the SYRIZA-led coalition and the eurozone to reach a deal that would keep Greece in the single currency.

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During the two-hour meeting, which Mr. Schulz called “tiring”, there was some tension, however as the European official noted in the subsequent press conference, he was pleased with Mr. Tsipras intention to submit proposals to discuss.

Regarding the renegotiation which the Greek government is aiming for, both sides came to some agreement on tax evasion and tackling corruption, although it should be noted that Mr. Schulz does not have authority on this matter. Nevertheless, there was a mutual understanding that further time was necessary for the deliberation to begin.

The three main points of discussion were tackling tax evasion, transparency, the efficiency of public administration and the introduction of tax system based on an wealth list; the Greek government’s willingness to work towards primarily balanced budgets, with the downward revision of primary surplus goals up to 2020; funding the country’s productive reconstruction through a new investment deal, NSRF and the exclusion of public investment from the fiscal deficit target.

To read more, please visit tovima.gr/en

Ahead of the meeting, Greek bank stocks rebounded Thursday after plunging the day before on concerns about the dramatic first moves of Tsipras’s new administration.

The government has begun to roll back years of austerity measures demanded by the EU and the International Monetary Fund in return for a 240-billion-euro ($269 billion) bailout granted to avoid a financial meltdown in 2010, and says it will negotiate to halve the debt.

But European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said a reduction of the 315 billion euro debt linked to the bailout “is not on the radar.”

“I don’t think there's a majority in the Eurogroup... for a reduction of the debt,” he told Germany’s ARD television, referring to the eurozones finance ministers.

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Mr. Varoufakis noted that the intention is not to propose a “zero sum game”, bur rather to demonstrate that everyone comes out at a loss by the way that Europe has been handling the Greek crisis since 2010. The Finance Minister explained that Greece will propose a reform program that will ensure that Greece does not find itself in the situation it was in 2009 and 2010.

Regarding the Eurozone, Mr. Varoufakis stressed that Greece is committed to the Eurozone and pointed out that a potential departure would have major implications on not just Greece, but the Eurozone and global economy. The Minister of Finances underlined that the payment of debt must be associated to the rate of growth and that the official sector must participate in the debt restructure.

To read more, please visit tovima.gr/en

Alexis Tsipras has reorganized the government, merging several ministries and creating new bodies, such as the Anti Corruption office to be led by Panos Nikoloudis.

The full cabinet:

Prime Minister - Alexis Tsipras

Deputy Prime Minister – Nikos Dragasakis

Minister of State: Nikos Pappas

Deputy Minister of State: Terence Quick

Parliamentary Speaker: Zoe Konstantopoulou

Minister of State to Coordinate Government Operations:  Alekos Flambouris

Minister of State to Combat Corruption: Panagiotis Nikoloudis

Government Spokesperson: Gavril Sakellaridis 

Ministry of Interior and Administrative Restructuring

Minister: Nikos Voutsis

Deputy Ministers:

• Giorgos Katrougalos (Administrative Restructuring)
• Yiannis Panousis (Protection of Citizens)
• Maria Kollia Tsaroucha (Macedonia / Thrace)
• Tasia Christodoulopoulou (Immigration Policy)

Ministry of Economy, Infrastructure, Shipping and Tourism

Minister: Giorgos Stathakis

Deputy Ministers:

• Theodoris Dritsas (Shipping)
• Elena Kountoura (Tourism)
• Christos Spirtzis (Infrastructure, transport and networks)

Ministry of Productive Reconstruction of the Environment and Energy  

Minister: Panagiotis Lafazanis

Deputy Ministers: 

• Yiannis Tsironis (Environment)
• Vangelis Apostolou (Agricultural Development)
• Panagiotis Sgouridis

• Ministry of Culture and Education

  Minister: Aristeidis Baltas  

  Deputy Ministers:

• Nikos Xydakis (Culture)
• Tasos Kourakis (Education)
• Kostas Fotakis (Research and Innovation)
• Stavros Kontonis (Sports)

Ministry of Finance

Minister: Yanis Varoufakis

Deputy Ministers:

• Nadia Valavani
• Kostas Mardas

Ministry of Health and Social Security

Minister: Panagiotis Kouroublis

Deputy Ministers:

• Andreas Xanthos (Health)
• Dimitris Stratoulis (Social Security)

Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity

Minister: Panos Scourletis

Deputy Ministers:

• Rania Antonopoulou (Unemployment)
• Theano Fotiou

To read more, please visit thetoc.gr/eng

By Pavlos Zafiropoulos

With 70 media representatives accredited and two political leaders present during the pre-election period (Mariano Rajoy and Pablo Iglesias), Spain followed the political developments in real time and up close.

The 2015 Elections Press Center of the General Secretariat for Communication and Promotion was hosted at the Zappeion Conference Centre, the same venue which served as the headquarters of Greece’s presidency in the Council of the European Union during 2014.

To read more, please visit greeknewsagenda.gr

George Papandreou’s Movement of Democratic Socialists (Kinima) appeared set to miss out on a place in Parliament as it was under the 3 percent threshold for gaining seats, with 2.4 percent.

This means that SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras is likely to receive a three-day exploratory mandate from President Karolos Papoulias on Monday. If Tsipras cannot form a government, the mandate will pass to New Democracy for three days and then the third party for another three. However, as SYRIZA receives a 50-seat bonus for coming first, the other parties will not have enough seats to create a majority coalition and second elections would be needed, as in 2012.

To read more, please visit ekathimerini.com