EU's Juncker fires warning to Greece on debt talks

Brussels has warned the Greek government that it needs to make more progress in tough negotiations on financial aid with its creditors.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said on Friday the EU executive is “not a major player” in the talks, as decisions on future help are taken by the eurozone countries.

“I am not satisfied with the developments of the recent weeks. I don’t think that we have made sufficient progress. But we try to push in the direction of a successful conclusion,” said Juncker. “I am totally excluding a failure.”

Juncker was speaking after talks with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Brussels. His comments come just days after Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said Greece should “stop wasting time” and get serious on reform.

Syriza leader Tsipras had hoped that Juncker could offer Greece greater flexibility on implementing the economic reforms required to tap further aid; his left-wing party came to power at the end of January hav