Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-11-07

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Bank of Cyprus to hold exhibition on history of the drachma

[02] Gov't lowers growth targets for 2001, 2002

[03] Greece has not incorporated EU pollution directive, SYN Eurodeputy says

[04] CORRECTION- Greek EU Commissioner proposes new employment policy

[05] Foreign Exchange Rates -Thursday

[06] Greek EU Commissioner proposes new employment and social policy

[07] Two arrested for applying for credit with forged documents

[08] Weather Forecast: Cloudy on Thursday

[09] Greek stocks end sharply up, telecoms rally

[10] Turkish FM Cem arrives for two-day visit

[11] Papantoniou reaffirms joint defence doctrine after talks with Hasikos

[12] Anomeritis: Cabinet will discuss illegal migration problem

[01] Bank of Cyprus to hold exhibition on history of the drachma

The Bank of Cyprus is to hold an exhibition on the history of the drachma from 1821 to the present that begins on November 10 and runs until the end of February.

The exhibition is to be held at the bank's headquarters in Athens, located in Alexandras Avenue, Ambelokipi. It then travels to Thessaloniki and Ioannina in the north.

The drachma will be abolished in February, following its phased replacement by the euro from January 1.

[02] Gov't lowers growth targets for 2001, 2002

The government is to revise downward its original growth target for 2001 to 4.1 percent from 4.6 percent, and for 2002 to 3.8 percent from 4.0 percent, National Economy and Finance Minister Nikos Christodoulakis said on Wednesday.

Christodoulakis was speaking after a meeting with the prime minister on the content of talks by European Union finance ministers, and on the budget for next year, which is destined for parliament on November 21.

In addition, a growth target of 3.8 percent will be adopted for 2002 against 4.0 percent, sources said.

The move would mean further cuts in spending of about 100 billion drachmas against forecasts in the draft budget in order to cover a slowdown in revenue from the anticipated deceleration in growth.

Christodoulakis attributed the downward revision to a global slowdown that he said would not show signs of easing until the second half of 2002.

[03] Greece has not incorporated EU pollution directive, SYN Eurodeputy says

BRUSSELS (ANA - M. Spinthourakis) - Greece has not abided by two European Union directives on air pollution, Coalition of the Left and Progress (Synaspismos) Eurodeputy Mihalis Papayiannakis said on Wednesday, invoking a relevant response provided for the European legislative body by European Commissioner Margo Walstrom.

According to Papayiannakis, the Commissioner, in her response to a question tabled by him, said that the case of incorporating the directive on complete pollution control into the Greek national legislation was pending before the European Communities' Court.

During the same session, Papayiannakis said that Walstrom noted that the Greek authorities have yet to notify the Commission of the incorporation of the Union's directive on limits of air pollutants into Greek legislation, which should have been done by June 19, 2001.

[04] CORRECTION- Greek EU Commissioner proposes new employment policy

In paragraph the first paragraph, please read ?BRUSSELS (ANA - M. Spintourakis)? instead of ?BRUSSELS (ANA - A. Diamantopoulou)?, as incorrectly stated.

A corrected repetition follows

BRUSSELS (ANA - M. Spintourakis) - The European Commission on Wednesday approved a proposal of Greek Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou on employment and the social policy of the European Union.

Diamantopoulou's proposal focused on the strengthening of the local dimension in the European strategy for employment, calling for ways to further develop employment on a local level and presents the actions for the use of experience and the support for the transfer of the best possible practice on a European level.

The Commission stressed, in its announcement that there is need for political will, experimentation and the exchanges in correct practice strategies, while correct use of structural funds and especially those of the EQUAL initiative would be instrumental for success on this front.

[05] Foreign Exchange Rates -Thursday

Indicative tourist buying rates

U.S. dollar 374.986

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 549.189

Irish punt 429.202

Belgian franc 008.379

Luxembourg franc 008.379

Dutch guilder 153.389

Italian lira (100) 017.457

Austrian schilling 024.565

Danish kroner 045.378

Swedish kroner 035.679

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 310.167

Swiss franc 229.879

Norwegian kroner 042.473

Cyprus pound 588.433

Canadian dollar 235.487

Australian dollar 193.322

[06] Greek EU Commissioner proposes new employment and social policy

BRUSSELS (ANA - A. Diamantopoulou) - The European Commission on Wednesday approved a proposal of Greek Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou on employment and the social policy of the European Union.

Diamantopoulou's proposal focused on the strengthening of the local dimension in the European strategy for employment, calling for ways to further develop employment on a local level and presents the actions for the use of experience and the support for the transfer of the best possible practice on a European level.

The Commission stressed, in its announcement that there is need for political will, experimentation and the exchanges in correct practice strategies, while correct use of structural funds and especially those of the EQUAL initiative would be instrumental for success on this front.

[07] Two arrested for applying for credit with forged documents

A Greek and a German nationals were arrested on Wednesday on charges of forging state documents with the use of a computer and using them to commit fraud.

Adamantios Kyriakidis, 41 and Paul Brandenburg, 20 where arrested for forging state documents, such as tax bureau return documents and police identification cards, with which they applied for credit to banks in Athens.

Kyriakidis was arrested when he attempted to collect a card he applied for, from an Alpha Bank branch in central Athens.

Latter police picked up Branderburg and found in his car 16 stolen police identification cards and 15 forged state seals among other documents, while they discovered and also confiscated six forged bills of paper currency.

[08] Weather Forecast: Cloudy on Thursday

The weather will be cloudy throughout the country on Thursday, with showers in the west, south, eastern Aegean islands and Dodecanese. There may also be storms, mainly in the Aegean. The rest of the country will remain overcast. Winds west-southwesterly, light to moderate. In the north, temperatures will range from 7C to 18C; in the Ionian and rest of the mainland from 10C to 20C; and in the Aegean islands from 14C to 22C. Athens may see light rain in the morning. Temperatures from 14C and 20C. Cloudy in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from 10C to 18C.

[09] Greek stocks end sharply up, telecoms rally

Renewed talk of new alliances in the telecommunications sector, with the latest scenario bringing together Hellenic Telecoms with Intracom, combined with news of the inclusion of National Bank's, Alpha Bank's and Hellenic Telecoms' shares in the European indices of Morgan Stanley Capital International, created a very positive climate in the Athens Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

The general index ended 1.54 percent higher at 2,633.24 points, with turnover a moderate 65.82 billion drachmas or 193.16 million euros.

The Publication, Telecoms and Textiles sectors scored the biggest percentage gains (2.48 percent, 2.19 percent and 2.17 percent, respectively), with only the Metals sector suffering losses.

Intracom's shares rose 4.05 percent, Hellenic Telecoms' ended 2.36 percent and Panafon rose 3.23 percent.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 1.27 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index rose 1.37 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index rose 1.60 percent.

Broadly, advancers led decliners by 257 to 67 with another 36 issues unchanged.

[10] Turkish FM Cem arrives for two-day visit

Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem arrived in Athens on Wednesday for a scheduled two-day visit and high-level talks with Greece's political leadership.

Cem is due to meet separately with Prime Minister Costas Simitis and Foreign Minister George Papandreou -- who greeted him on Wednesday -- during the second day of his visit for talks focusing on international developments and bilateral relations.

In brief statements just after landing at Athens' Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport, Cem said that during his contacts in Athens he would also outline his governments positions on the conflict in Afghanistan and the Mideast situation.

The Turkish FM will be received by President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos later in the afternoon, and after attending an unofficial lunch hosted by Papandreou. Afterwards, Cem who is accompanied by his wife -- will meet with main opposition New Democracy leader Costas Karamanlis.

Both foreign ministers on Wednesday said their talks would focus on bilateral relations and implementation of various bilateral agreements regarding "low impact issues? and international developments following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

A protocol of cooperation between the diplomatic academies of the two foreign ministries, which would provide for three-year training programmes, as well as an accord on setting up a joint unit to deal with natural disasters will also be signed.

Conversely, Cem said a protocol of ?re-entry? covering illegal migrants would also be discussed, although it wont be signed before relevant negotiations are completed and three new Confidence-Building Measures (CBMs) signed.

[11] Papantoniou reaffirms joint defence doctrine after talks with Hasikos

The cornerstone of the Greece-Cyprus joint defence doctrine was that any attack on Cyprus was tantamount to an attack on Greece, Defence Minister Yiannos Papantoniou said on Wednesday.

Papantoniou made the statement after a meeting in Athens with his Cypriot counterpart Socrates Hasikos on the Greece-Cyprus joint defence doctrine, bilateral relations and Turkey's recent threats to annex the Turkish-occupied territories in northern Cyprus.

He also stressed that Greece had to be ready to battle for Cyprus' accession to the European Union, saying that "Cyprus belonged in Europe,' while expressing hope that the island's accession would also act as a catalyst for a final resolution of the Cyprus problem.

On his part, Hasikos said the Cypriot government was on the alert following last week's threats of annexation by Turkey, and had taken all political and diplomatic steps to prevent this happening. At the same time, Hasikos predicted that Turkey would not go through with its threats.

[12] Anomeritis: Cabinet will discuss illegal migration problem

Merchant Marine Minister George Anomeritis announced on Wednesday that he would recommend the introduction of tougher penalties for immigrant smugglers during an upcoming inner cabinet meeting on illegal migration, scheduled to take place in the next few days.

Anomeritis was just back from a trip to Zakynthos the previous day, where he had presided over a meeting to decide the fate of 1200 Kurdish illegal migrants that have been on the island since Monday, when the ship they were travelling in was towed to safety after it was abandoned in stormy seas by its crew of immigrant-smugglers.

During Tuesday's meeting with Zakynthos local authorities and bodies, it was decided to lease a 500-bed hotel that would initially be used to house families.

The minister also announced that authorities had arrested four Turks suspected of bringing the migrants into Greek waters.

Regarding the fate of the immigrants in the long term, the minister pointed out that it was standard practice for immigrants to request political asylum, which meant that each of them would have to be dealt with individually.

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article