Samaras and Barroso both sought to strike an upbeat note at an official ceremony for Greece’s assumption of the European Union’s Presidency emphasizing the country’s progress and playing down the fragility of Samaras’s government.

Internationally renown conductor Georgios Petros will conduct the Athens Camerata in the opening of the cultural page of the Greek EU presidency in two concerts in Athens αnd Brussels

The terrorist attack against the German ambassador's residence and ongoing revelations of graft are undermining Greek efforts for a succesful EU presidency, but Herr Schauble steps in for a rescue.