The Czech Republic won’t be joining the euro anytime soon, if the billionaire who’s poised to be the country’s next prime minister has anything to do with it. “No euro. I don’t want the euro. We don’t want the euro here,” Babis said Friday in an interview on the sidelines of the reSITE cities conference in Prague. “Everybody knows it’s bankrupt. It’s about our sovereignty. I want the Czech koruna, and an independent central bank. I don’t want another issue that Brussels would be meddling with.” Source Bloomberg
A trilateral Greece-Cyprus-Israel summit will take place in Beersheba on December 20 where host Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras, and Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades are expected to boost cooperation between the three Mediterranean countries, especially energy. Source: New Europe
The Italian government will trim its deficit target for next year in its latest proposal that seeks to avoid European Union sanctions for violating the bloc’s budget rules, the Ansa news agency reported. Source: Bloomberg
In an exclusive interview with Kathimerini’s Sunday edition, US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Wess Mitchell has sent a clear message to Ankara not to obstruct drilling for hydrocarbons that is under way in Cyprus’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), while hailing Greece as a “fantastic ally” to the United States in the region. Source: Ekathimerini
