Eurogroup Of Finance Ministers

Euro zone finance ministers agreed on Friday to launch a third bailout programme for Greece, Belgian Finance Minister Johan van Overtveldt told Reuters after a meeting of the Eurogroup in Brussels.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras warned today that a German proposal to give his debt-ridden country a bridging loan rather than agree a new bailout would be "a return to a crisis without end".

A list of demands handed to the Greek government in order to secure a European bailout inspired a social media backlash against Germany and its hawkish finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has not raised the possibility of Greece exiting the Eurozone at crisis talks in Brussels discussing aid for Athens, Greek government officials said on Saturday.

Greece's maverick finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, who announced his surprise resignation on today, achieved near-celebrity status with an urban-cool image and visceral attacks on the country's international creditors.

The special meeting comes as Brussels reels with the implications of what the head of the Eurogroup of finance ministers from the 19-country block, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, called a "very regrettable" decision.

Eurozone finance ministers agreed Wednesday to wait for the result of Greece's controversial bailout referendum before holding any more discussions on Athens's debt crisis, Slovakia said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande said a meeting of eurozone finance ministers on Saturday would be decisive for finding a debt deal for Greece.

Greece and the Eurozone should not play a game of chicken to see who can hold out longer in negotiations about more lending to Athens in exchange for reforms, the chairman of Eurozone finance ministers Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on Friday.

Finance minister Yanis Varoufakis upped the stakes sharply ahead of tomorrow's crucial Eurogroup meeting in Brussels by raising the prospect of new Greek elections or even a referendum on any debt deal.

Eurozone finance ministers will try again today to break a deadlock over Greece's urgent need for further financing but it may take an emergency summit of the currency bloc in the coming week to clinch any deal.

Talks between Greece and Eurozone finance ministers over the country's debt broke down on Monday when Athens rejected a proposal to request a six-month extension of its international bailout and stick to the conditions.

Greece's hard left government was to fine tune its economic programme today ahead of a week of high-risk international talks but with no sign so far of an imminent deal with its creditors.

A top European official said the move in Cyprus to inflict losses on banks' shareholders, bondholders and even owners of large deposits should become the bloc's default approach for dealing with ailing lenders.

The Dutch finance minister was poised today to take over as head of the eurogroup, the group of the 17 euro zone finance ministers, which would give him one of the top jobs in the euro zone's battle to end its financial crisis.

Euro zone finance ministers agreed on Friday to launch a third bailout programme for Greece, Belgian Finance Minister Johan van Overtveldt told Reuters after a meeting of the Eurogroup in Brussels.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras warned today that a German proposal to give his debt-ridden country a bridging loan rather than agree a new bailout would be "a return to a crisis without end".

A list of demands handed to the Greek government in order to secure a European bailout inspired a social media backlash against Germany and its hawkish finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has not raised the possibility of Greece exiting the Eurozone at crisis talks in Brussels discussing aid for Athens, Greek government officials said on Saturday.

Greece's maverick finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, who announced his surprise resignation on today, achieved near-celebrity status with an urban-cool image and visceral attacks on the country's international creditors.

The special meeting comes as Brussels reels with the implications of what the head of the Eurogroup of finance ministers from the 19-country block, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, called a "very regrettable" decision.

Eurozone finance ministers agreed Wednesday to wait for the result of Greece's controversial bailout referendum before holding any more discussions on Athens's debt crisis, Slovakia said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande said a meeting of eurozone finance ministers on Saturday would be decisive for finding a debt deal for Greece.

Greece and the Eurozone should not play a game of chicken to see who can hold out longer in negotiations about more lending to Athens in exchange for reforms, the chairman of Eurozone finance ministers Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on Friday.

Finance minister Yanis Varoufakis upped the stakes sharply ahead of tomorrow's crucial Eurogroup meeting in Brussels by raising the prospect of new Greek elections or even a referendum on any debt deal.

Eurozone finance ministers will try again today to break a deadlock over Greece's urgent need for further financing but it may take an emergency summit of the currency bloc in the coming week to clinch any deal.

Talks between Greece and Eurozone finance ministers over the country's debt broke down on Monday when Athens rejected a proposal to request a six-month extension of its international bailout and stick to the conditions.

Greece's hard left government was to fine tune its economic programme today ahead of a week of high-risk international talks but with no sign so far of an imminent deal with its creditors.

A top European official said the move in Cyprus to inflict losses on banks' shareholders, bondholders and even owners of large deposits should become the bloc's default approach for dealing with ailing lenders.

The Dutch finance minister was poised today to take over as head of the eurogroup, the group of the 17 euro zone finance ministers, which would give him one of the top jobs in the euro zone's battle to end its financial crisis.