SYRIZA party

In his speech on Sunday, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said that Greece had a "moral obligation" to claim reparations from Germany for the damages wrought by the Nazis during Worle War Two. He said that this was "a moral obligation to our people, to history, to all European people who fought and spilled their blood against Nazism."

Only two domestic energy companies, Hellenic Petroleum (EL.PE) and Energea Oil, tabled bids on Friday for onshore oil exploration in three blocks of western Greece.

Previous reports holding that Italian multinational ENEL would withdraw from the bidding proved true.

Shell, Total and Repsol had initially shown some interest as well.

Greece's new government was isolated at its first meeting with senior eurozone officials but will have a chance to put forward its plans at a special meeting of finance ministers of the currency bloc next week, EU officials said on Friday.

By Kasper Viita & Kati Pohjanpalo

Greece is once again being used as a cudgel in Finland as the anti-bailout party The Finns has called for a confidence vote against the government to criticize the bailouts of the Hellenic nation since 2010.

By Elis Kiss

While a tie-less politician was hardly breaking news in Greece this week, Costas Karamanlis?s relaxed appearance at the Parliament?s swearing-in ceremony created some buzz on Thursday. The former premier is a conservative, after all, while the no-tie credo rightfully belongs to the ruling leftist SYRIZA party.  

By Sophie Sassard

Soon after politicians from left-wing SYRIZA party won power in Greece they said they had hired Lazard to advise them on restructuring their debt.

It is a homecoming of sorts for the US investment bank. Lazard cemented its position as the eminence grise of debt negotiations when it secured the biggest restructuring deal in history for Athens in 2012.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Thursday it was time for both Greece and Europe to "turn the page" on austerity, telling members of his hard-left SYRIZA party that "fear is over."

Germany wants Greece's new left-wing government to go back on anti-austerity promises made in its first days in office and revert to economic policies its predecessors' agreed with international lenders, a document showed on Wednesday.

By John O'Donnell & Jan Strupczewski

Greece's new leftist government appealed to the European Central Bank on Wednesday to keep its banks afloat and vowed to respect European Union rules as it seeks a negotiated solution with euro zone partners to reduce its debt burden.

Greece's new Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said during a visit to Brussels on Wednesday that he believed it was possible to find a solution to the debt standoff between Athens and the EU.