Evangelos Venizelos

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos heads to Berlin on Wednesday for an official two-day visit.

Venizelos is scheduled to meet with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble at 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos will travel to Berlin on Wednesday, his office confirmed on Tuesday.

Venizelos has scheduled meetings with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on the afternoon of his arrival and on the following day with Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Former European Commissioner Stavros Dimas has emerged as the frontrunner for Greece's presidential candidacy following a meeting with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on Tuesday morning, a day after the coalition government announced that it is moving up the electoral process.

By Nikos Chrysoloras & Antonis Galanopoulos

Greek stocks and bonds slumped after Prime Minister Antonis Samaras opted to bring forward the process of choosing a new head of state, risking parliamentary elections in Europe’s most indebted state as early as January.

Government spokeswoman Sofia Voultepsi announced Monday that a first round of votes for the presidential election will be held on December 17, underlining the need for Greek authorities to focus on troika talks following a decision by eurozone officials to approve a short extension to Greece’s bailout and to curb political uncertainty.

Greece perceives both the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and the Sothern Energy Corridor, the country's Deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos said during the visit of Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

Venizelos declared while at a Greek-Turkish business forum in Athens that the Southern Energy Corridor was "opening a new page in the relations between the two countries".

Although Deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos suggested on Friday that an agreement between Greece and the troika is possible before December 15, the government is keeping its options open regarding its next steps.

Deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos will travel to Berlin on Wednesday for two days of talks, it was announced on Friday.

According to sources, the PASOK leader will meet German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) Sigmar Gabriel.

Deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos stressed on Friday that the government would not impose new austerity measures such as cuts to pensions and salaries and that a deal with the troika would be reached by the middle of this month.

Greece insisted on Thursday that it is only examining the option of extending its bailout for a few weeks rather than months despite some eurozone countries declaring their support for a six-month prolongation at Thursday’s meeting of the Euro Working Group in Brussels.