ENGLISH EDITION

Tourism Minister Haris Theoharis had a series of meetings with several German government officials during his visit to Berlin, as well as senior Condor Airlines executives, who informed him that the airline has 150 scheduled flights to Greece each week, to 16 different destinations in the country. Theoharis was in Berlin on Thursday.

The move aims to meet demands made by the European Central Bank (ECB ) calling for additional guarantees to be provided for the securitized assets to carry a zero risk weighting amidst resistance from Greece to put up cash to meet this condition. Above all, the updated plan aims to solve a crucial technical problem: avoid triggering the negative pledge clause included in Greek government bonds in a development that could have serious consequences for the economy.

Schinas stressed that following the Tuesday visit of the three presidents of EU's top institutions to Evros, the Union sent a "resounding message of support to Greece," a country facing an "unprecedented challenge."

Greek tourism has already been hit by cancellations of bookings from Chinese tourists, but the problem is spreading to other markets. The Tourism Ministry had been planning for a sharp increase in Chinese visitors but targetted growth for 2020 is off the table.

"Greece must seek substantial EU support, as these people do not come here to stay on Lesvos or Limnos islands, they are coming to move on through to the rest of Europe," SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras said in comments on the unfolding Greek-Turkish border migration crisis on Mega TV station, on Tuesday evening.

"In recent days, Greece has suddenly come under mass, organised and coordinated pressure from the movement of populations at its eastern land and sea borders. This movement is directed and encouraged by Turkey. These actions are taking place in violation of its obligations under the EU-Turkey joint statement. Turkey, instead of controlling the migrant and refugee trafficking rings has itself become a trafficker," Petsas said in a statement.

Analysts, business and bank officials described the coronavirus as posing a serious risk to the macroeconomic environment, meaning that Greece is less likely to achieve its target for economic growth of 2.8 percent for this year. Experts point to a 0.1 percent cut to forecast global growth for this year by the IMF, which also reduced its estimate for China's economic expansion by 0.4 percent.

The European Commission's Enhanced Surveillance Report on Greece outlines the country's plans to support those who have not sought the protection of their primary residence under the household insolvency (Katseli) law but renegotiated the terms of their loan in a bid to avoid losing their home.

Eldorado must convince the Environment and Energy Ministry with a new study that it's gold mining techniques are safe for the environment. If it fails to do so, the investment will be at loose ends as the gold mine is at the center of its investment in northern Greece. So far there has been no comment from the Canadian company, nor has there been any announcement on how it will overcome this obstacle.

Blackstone is moving to boost its presence in the hotel business, by pushing ahead with a 500 million euro investment program. The start took place when it purchased five hotels from Cyprus' Louis group in September for 180 million euros. These deals were conducted via Blackstone Real Estate Partners in Europe and related to two hotels in Zakynthos, two in Corfu and one more in Crete with a total capacity of 1,464 rooms.