110th United States Congress

Greece will not last in the eurozone in the long run and officials working on a review of its bailout package should prepare for such a possibility, a senior member of the Bavarian sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives said.

Greece has lost a quarter of its national output since it first sought financial aid in 2010.

Greece will not last in the eurozone in the long run and officials working on a review of its bailout package should prepare for such a possibility, a senior member of the Bavarian sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives said.

Greece reached an agreement with its lenders on financial reforms early on Nov. 17, its finance minister said, removing a major obstacle holding up fresh bailout loans for the cash-starved country.

Discussions on a third bailout package have started in Athens between Greek authorities and representatives of Greece's international creditors, the European Commission announced on Monday.

A Greek government spokeswoman, however, said that high-level talks would not begin until later this week, according to the BBC.

Austrian Finance Minister Hans Joerg Schelling was quoted by a newspaper as saying Greece must complete its current bailout package before any new program can be agreed, in comments which his ministry said came before he saw Greece's latest loan request.

Parliament’s State Budget Office has ruffled some feathers again after claiming that is appears likely Greece will require a third bailout package to avoid a default.

In its quarterly report, published on Monday, it also warned that the matter of the country’s banks has not been resolved yet despite the capital injections.

A delegation from the troika of international lenders Tuesday began its fifth assessment of Cyprus's economy and troubled banking system, focusing on the threat of bad loans.

Some 45 percent of all loans at Cypriot banks are classified as non-performing -- 27.1 billion euros from total lending of 60 billion euros, according to Cyprus Central Bank figures.

Germany's finance minister said Wednesday he did not expect Athens to stray from its economic plan to tackle the country's huge debts despite a change of finance minister.

Wolfgang Schaeuble told reporters in Berlin that he didn't yet know Yannis Stournaras' successor but he did not foresee changes in policy after this week's Greek cabinet reshuffle.

Greece will likely require a third bailout package, Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem reiterated on Wednesday in an interview on Dutch TV.

Echoing his German counterpart Wolfgang Schaeuble, the Dutch finance minister said that the amount Greece will require and on what level the new assistance will be organized will be discussed during the summer.

BELGRADE - Commissioner for the Protection of Equality Nevena Petrusic has said on Wednesday that steps forward were made in the protection against discrimination, but that the situation in that field is still not satisfactory, and that much work still lies ahead of the country when it comes to building a tolerant society.