Evangelos Venizelos

Former prime minister Antonis Samaras spoke on the phone Monday evening with his one-time coalition partner and the head of Greece’s newest political formation to enter parliament, the centrist Potami party — shortly after a Eurogroup meeting ended on a sour note vis-à-vis the Greek bailout crisis.

PASOK?s political council decided on Friday that the Socialists would hold a party congress on May 15, with a leadership contest to follow.

Current PASOK president Evangelos Venizelos has said he will not seek re-election as party leader. The only dissenting voice on Friday was Fofi Gennimata.

Greeks are casting their ballots for a new parliament amid substantial voter activity, international media outlets report.

German bond yields saw their biggest daily rise in over a year on Wednesday ? a sign investors believe that any European Central Bank easing measures announced when the ECB meets today may fall short of their high expectations.

A spokesman for ex-Prime Minister George Papandreou?s party, the Movement of Democratic Socialists, implied on Friday that the former premier had proposed to PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos (photo), among other people, that he take over as prime minister in November 2011.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on Thursday cast New Democracy as a Europe-oriented party, following leftist SYRIZA?s overture toward the Communist Party (KKE), as the conservative pre-election campaign shifts its focus to the center ground and undecided voters.

A fresh row broke out on Wednesday between PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos and his predecessor George Papandreou, with the latter claiming that there was an effort within his party from June 2011 to unseat him as prime minister.

Despite recent meetings with top-ranking Turkish government officials and the mutual expression of good intentions from both sides, Greek authorities remain on standby following a spike in violations of Greek air space by Turkish fighter jets, Kathimerini understands.

Greece's main political parties on Friday began unveiling their candidate lists for the January 25 elections, with some of the nominations causing friction between governing coalition partners New Democracy and PASOK as well within the ranks of leftist opposition SYRIZA.

Aris Siliotopoulos (photo), a former New Democracy minister and MP who gave up his seat in Parliament to run in May's local elections for Athens mayor, said on Friday that he will not be running on the conservative ticket in the January 25 general elections.