Greece promises to submit reform list

The radical left-wing Greek leader sat down for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande late on Thursday on the sidelines of the ongoing European summit in Brussels.

After three hours of talks, Merkel said early on Friday that Greece had promised to speed up implementation of its extended bailout agreement and send a full list of detailed reform proposals to its eurozone partners in the coming days.

The German chancellor declined, however, to set any date for releasing further financial aid to the cash-strapped Greek government, saying that depended on a positive evaluation of the reform proposals.

"The procedure is back on track," Tsipras said early on Friday. "It is clear that Greece will not have to take recessionary measures," he added.

During Thursday's overnight mini-summit, however, Tsipras also said that Greece faced a "humanitarian crisis" if its creditors refuse to unlock the remaining seven-billion-euro ($7.5-billion) tranche of its 240-billion-euro EU-International Monetary Fund bailout, with Athens at risk of running out of money by the end of the week.

Despite fears of a Greek exit from the euro, which would trigger a crisis for the currency, Brussels has insisted that Greece's new government must first meet its reform pledges before it receives any money.

'Flash mob'

The separate meeting was also attended by European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker, European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi and Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister who chairs the euro single currency group.

Left out in the cold, however, was Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg who complained to Donald Tusk on the point on Thursday.

European Parliament President Martin Schulz also said he should have been involved, dismissing the meeting as a "flash mob."

ksb/bk (AFP, dpa)