Erstellt am: 17. 2. 2015 - 14:39 Uhr

Greece and the EU: who'll blink first?

Reality Check: Greece talks, Minsk agreement fails, Putin in Hungary, the billion dollar bank heist, passenger name records

Will the EU get its bailout extension, or Greece get its bridging loan, or the ECB offer emergency liquidity assistance?

The language flying around the EU Finance Minsters' talks on how to proceed on Greece's debt is colourful and confusing - and not even the experts seem to be clear on exactly what the difference in meaning is between the various options being debated. However, everyone is keen not to be seen to be backing down, and playing with the wording doesn't seem to be helping.

EPA/THIERRY MONASSE

Germany's Wolfgang Schäuble, Head of the IMF Christine Lagarde, and Greece's Yanis Varoufakis - who'll blink first?

Two things are certain: the talks have stalled, and the current bailout deal expires at the end of the month. It's also clear that, at present, while everyone says they want a deal, no one is prepared to shift their position towards a compromise.

At the end of the day, the rest of Europe doesn't really want a Grexit, and Greece will soon run out of money.

Our Brussels correspondent, Sandra Gathmann, explains what is happening behind the rhetoric.

Ukraine deal failing

With the ceasefire only partially in effect, and neither side meeting the deadline to withdraw heavy weaponry, analyst Gustav Gressel considers what might happen next.

EPA/BALAZS MOHAI HUNGARY

Anti-Putin protests in Budapest

Putin in Hungary

Vladimir Putin is in Hungary today for talks on gas supplies with Prime Minister, Victor Orban. Our Budapest correspondent, Nick Thorpe, discusses the significance of energy supplies in the political tensions between Russia and the EU.

The Billion Dollar bank heist

Daniel Sokolov of heise.de explains the thinking and the technology behind the world's biggest ever bank heist.

Passenger name records

In the wake of the recent terror attacks in Paris and now Copenhagen, European Union leaders are debating a range of steps to protect Europe from terrorism. Morten Kjaerum, the Director of the Vienna based European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, discusses the so called Passenger Name Record scheme.

FM4 Reality Check

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