Frankfurter Allgemeine

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias will hold talks with his German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel in Athens Thursday.

A joint press conference will take place after the meeting at around 2 p.m.

Germany's outgoing Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has been elected President of the country, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports.

Steinmeier's bid was backed by both social-democrat SPD party and Merkel's conservative CDU, which did not nominate its own candidate. He was widely expected to win.

The Social Democrats (SPD) are narrowing the edge of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) of German Chancellor Angela Merkel before the general election in September, a survey shows.

The CDU would get 33% and the SPD would receive 32% of the vote, the figures projecting the center-left party's highest result since April 2006.

The unexpected visit of CIA director John Brennan to Tirana has prompted claims that  besides Islamic radicalism, concerns about Russian influence in Albania were also on the agenda.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has reportedly said he is accepting the Russia and the United States' plan for cessation of hostilities, German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports, citing Syrian state agency SANA.

The Former European Commission President and a staunch supporter of the European integration project, Roman Prodi was very critical of the German stance on the Greek crisis, in a long article entitled “Europe must halt the unacceptable German blitzkrieg” published in Italian Il Messaggero, Sunday.

German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAZ) reports that a deal between Greece and the Quartet for the new 86bln Euro bailout plan is possible by next Friday, August 14. The reports notes on the ‘excellent cooperation’ between the creditors and the Greek negotiating team during talks.

German Attorney General Harald Range has been fired over his comments on the government's action with regard to a treason investigation carried out against journalists.

The German press has been abuzz with its own interpretations of the meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, ECB Chief Mario Draghi, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and IMF Chief Christine Lagarde.  Most of the titles interpreted the meeting as a “last offer to Greece”.

Alternate International Economic Relations Minister Euclid Tsakalotos on Thursday refuted that he spoke of a bailout program in his interview with German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) dated May 27.