Greek PM hosts Eurogroup chief

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras kicks off a European charm offensive on Wednesday with talks to persuade Eurozone chief Jean-Claude Juncker that the debt-laden nation has the will to ram through unpopular reforms and deserves more time to do it.

With cash coffers running empty and renewed talk of a Greek Eurozone exit without more aid, Samaras is under pressure to convince European leaders that Greece has finally mustered the political courage to fulfill pledges under its latest bailout.

Juncker, the most influential European policymaker to visit Athens since Samaras' conservative-led government came to power in June, is expected to bluntly tell Samaras that Greece must carry out the promised cuts and that little room for leeway exists.

That message is likely to be hammered home again to the Greek leader when he travels to Berlin on Friday to meet German Chancelor Angela Merkel and to Paris a day later for talks with French President Francois Hollande.

(Reuters)