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Greece should pay its debt in full regardless of parliamentary election results — Juncker

"The new Greek government must take on the previous obligations, to stay the course of the reforms and be financially responsible," European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker EPA/PATRICK SEEGER

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker

© EPA/PATRICK SEEGER

LONDON/DUBLIN, January 19. /TASS/. Greece should pay its debt in full, regardless of the outcome of the upcoming January parliamentary election, and continue with the negotiated reforms, Chairman of the European Commission (EC) Jean-Claude Juncker said on Monday.

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"The new Greek government must take on the previous obligations, to stay the course of the reforms and be financially responsible," said Juncker. "Europe will continue to support Greece but it is expected that Athens will stick to the promises made to its partners," he added.

In turn, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde, commenting on the intention of the Greek opposition party, the Coalition of the Radical Left forces (SYRIZA) to write off some of the national debt, by saying that these attempts will "have an impact on trust" between the lender and the borrower.

"Debt is debt and it is a contract. Breach of payments, changing of terms or debt restructuring will undermine the credibility of the signature," Lagarde told The Irish Times.

Early parliamentary elections will take place in Greece on January 25, and according to opinion polls, the main opposition party SYRIZA could win. Leader of the party Alexis Tsipras has said that if he wins the parliamentary elections, his party will seek to write off most of the country's debt, worth €322 billion.

The current Greek government led by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has said that SYRIZA's intention to write off part of the debt will lead the country to default.

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EU European Commission Greece Jean-Claude Juncker

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Air defenses repel Ukrainian drone attack in Russia’s Smolensk Region — governor

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Proposals on Russian assets confiscation undermine financial system — Finance Minister

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Iran has no plans to immediately retaliate to attack on its soil — agency

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Kiev ordered mandatory evacuation from Kharkov Region to accommodate mercenaries

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Russia ready for Ukraine talks, but not with Zelensky — Lavrov

The first negotiations between Russia and Ukraine after the start of the special military operation took place in early March 2022 in Belarus, but they did not bring tangible results

Russia knows French military instructors working in Ukraine — Lavrov

At the same time, the top Russian diplomat pointed out that "there is information that not only French mercenaries, but also instructors, maybe even together, but along with some other representatives of military and special services of European countries are working there [in Ukraine]"

NATO discussing transfer of ‘deep precision strike capabilities’ to Ukraine — Stoltenberg

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CIA chief says Ukraine could lose by end of this year — Politico

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Israeli aviation strikes towns in Gaza Strip

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Armenia has to define CSTO’s zone of responsibility on its territory, says Lavrov

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Russia has significant amount of West’s funds in case of confiscation of its assets

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Participation in ‘Columbine’ movement may result in life sentence — Prosecutor General

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Ukraine’s military loses positions near Avdeyevka, says DPR

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Russia can join top three countries by lithium reserves — governor

Infrastructure is required to implement the investment project, both power transmission lines and the railroad, Andrey Chibis noted

Russian Cabinet expands list of perfumery, cosmetic products subjected to import duty

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Russian economy positively influences neighboring countries — Deputy PM

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Iran threatens to attack Israel's "nuclear centers" in case of aggression on its part

Ahmad Haqtalab argued that Israel had been conducting "subversive and terrorist activities" against the Islamic republic's nuclear infrastructure for year

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Ukraine’s new ethnic minorities law insufficient to protect Magyars — Hungarian president

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Press review: Biden backs aid to Israel, Ukraine and Russia assets giving West legal fits

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The Russian foreign minister emphasized that the situation on the ground had changed significantly

Lavrov says Borrell let it slip that Europe ‘fighting against Russia’

Russia’s top diplomat noted that Josep Borrell may made the statement in a moment of weakness

Switzerland does not suit Russia for negotiations on Ukraine — Lavrov

The Foreign Minister pointed to the fact that Switzerland is on board with all Western sanctions

Russian stock indices rising on Friday

The MOEX Russia Index edged up by 0.44%, the RTS Index surged by 1.13%

French president says creating Israeli-type air defense network for Ukraine impossible

Emmanuel Macron added that Europe’s resources are limited, and the European Union will continue helping Kiev keeping in mind its own reserves

French, US, British nukes all interwoven — Russian diplomat

Maria Zakharova described France’s decision to place its aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, directly under NATO control as a symbolic move marking the end of "the era of an independent Paris in the international arena"

Russian forces destroy Ukrainian command post, two S-300 missile launchers over day

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israeli Permanent Representative Gilad Erdan was to address the council after Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour

West can’t comprehend Russia’s resilience — Lavrov

"They would have been scared had anyone come down on them with similar ferocity," the Russian foreign minister added

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Armenia’s relations with Russia not at their highest — top diplomat

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Russian instructors help train over 10,000 Central African troops — CAR president

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Number of flooded residential buildings in Russia drops to 16,200

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Lavrov speaks of West’s agony, Russia’s approach to any future talks with Kiev

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FACTBOX: Collective Security Treaty Organization

The Collective Security Treaty came into force on April 20, 1994 to herald the emergence what would eventually become the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The six member-countries are Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan

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