Wolfgang Schaeuble

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble urged German lawmakers on Thursday to approve a 10 billion euro (8.6 billion pounds) bailout for Cyprus amid new uncertainty over whether the deal will get through the Mediterranean nation's own fractious parliament.

A long-standing debate over whether Germany still owes Greece war reparations stemming from the Nazi occupation erupted anew Thursday in a spat between Greece's foreign minister and Germany's finance minister.

Greece on Thursday responded to comments by German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble who said Athens should not get distracted by the issue of war reparations from Berlin and instead focus on its economic reform program.

Less than a week after a top-secret document was leaked that suggested billions are owed by Germany to Greece in war reparations, Berlin has rejected the claims.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has told a Greek newspaper he believes austerity measures in the crisis-hit country are working, despite growing hardship and high unemployment.

yprus deserves the same treatment by its partners as other countries, President of the European Parliament Martin Schultz said on Thursday,

Tsipras requested meeting with Schaeuble on Berlin visit

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told Greek leftist opposition leader Alexis Tsipras on Monday there was no alternative to the tough austerity program being pursued by the conservative-led government in Athens.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble will meet Greek anti-bailout politician Alexis Tsipras in Berlin on Monday and will try to persuade him to back Athens' austerity measures, a finance ministry spokeswoman said on Friday.

The leader of the main opposition Radical Left SYRIZA party, Alexis Tsipras is to have his first ever meeting with Germany's Federal Minister of Finance, Wolfgang Schauble, next week in Berlin.