A six-month extension of Greece's bailout program is "not a substantial proposal for a solution", Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has said.

In his words, the letter "does not meet the criteria" forged by the Eurogroup earlier this week.

"In reality it is aimed at a bridge financing, without fulfilling the requirement of the criteria agreed on Monday," a further Finance Ministry statement reads as cited by German weekly Der Spiegel.

Schaeuble's comments follow a move by Athens to request a new deadline for the current bailout program, which expires February 28.

The EU announced earlier on Thursday it had received a request from Greece, just days after Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis turned down an extension offer at the Monday Eurogroup meeting.

Germany's move to thumb down on the Greek request was preceded by a EU comment which called it "positive", according to the BBC which quotes Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas from her briefing on Thursday.

They suggest Friday's Eurogroup meeting, which the group's head Jeroen Dijsselbloem had called in to discuss the extension, might fail to produce any results.

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