On Thursday morning at 6 a.m local time the Greek state broadcaster reopened under its previous name ERT (Hellenic Radio Television), two years after the then government shut down ERT to replace it, months later, with a slimmed-down NERIT (New Hellenic Radio, Internet and Television).

An earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale occurred at 00:49 on Wednesday morning, in the sea area between Kasos and Crete, according to the Institute of Geodynamics of the National Observatory of Athens.

"The ball is clearly in Greece’s court," European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said on Wednesday. Schinas underlined that Greece needs to be consistent with what was discussed between the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker last week.

Developments are rapid in terms of negotiations, as reports indicate that the rendezvous between Merkel, Hollande, and Tsipras on the sidelines of the summit in Brussels will not take place.