Athens News Agency: News in English, 02-06-07

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

CONTENTS

[01] ND leader discusses education issues with Archbishop of America

[02] Greek defence minister attends NATO meeting

[03] Turkish vice-admiral to receive 'Special Ipekci Award'

[04] Gov't spokesman comments on airspace violations by Turkey

[05] Trade ties dominate Simitis' last day in China

[06] Pres. Stephanopoulos voices concern over rise of ultra-Right in Europe

[07] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

[08] Weather Forecast: Light cloud on Saturday

[09] Profit taking reverses two-day rally in ASE

[01] ND leader discusses education issues with Archbishop of America

NEW YORK (ANA - M. Georgiadou) - Main opposition New Democracy (ND) party leader Costas Karamanlis discussed educational issues with Archbishop of America Dimitrios at the headquarters of the Archdiocese in Manhattan on Friday.

Karamanlis said he had the opportunity of ascertaining once again the very important role the Archdiocese is playing in Greek Orthodox Church affairs and the linking role it is playing between Hellenism and the United States.

Karamanlis and the delegation accompanying him then visited Ground Zero. It is the place where the Church of Saint Nicholas used to be and where the archbishop held a commemorative service for the victims of the September 11 terrorist attack.

The event was also attended by New York Governor George Pataki.

According to reports, Karamanlis will be having a meeting with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on his return from Washington and before leaving for Athens on June 12.

[02] Greek defence minister attends NATO meeting

BRUSSELS (ANA - V. Demiris) Greece would actively assist in upgrading military ties between NATO and the Ukraine through the bilateral agreements it had already signed with the Ukraine, Greek Defence Minister Yiannos Papantoniou said on Friday.

The Greek minister was speaking after a NATO defence ministers meeting that decided to upgrade NATO-Ukraine relations by promoting greater military cooperation.

Papantoniou said the NATO member-states had agreed to play a more active role in restructuring the Ukrainian armed forces, providing know-how and training Ukrainian officers.

Commenting on the recently-signed accord between NATO and Russia and Thursday's historic first session in which Russia participated on the NATO Council on an equal basis with NATO member-states for the first time, Papantoniou said that Greece was among the countries that had always been in favour of Russia's effective membership of NATO, while noting that dividing lines created tensions that undermined European safety.

He added that Greece supported the NATO entry of all states in the Balkans and in central and eastern Europe, so as to create a single defence area without dividing lines and gaps.

[03] Turkish vice-admiral to receive 'Special Ipekci Award'

Turkish vice-admiral Attila Kiyat is to receive a 'Special Ipekci Award' for his constructive statements regarding Turkey's handling of the Cyprus problem in an interview with the Turkish newspaper 'Radikal' published on November 19, 2001.

The prize will be given by a three-member Ipekci Peace and Friendship Awards Athens branch delegation, during an annual arts festival being held on June 7-20 in the Turkish town of Kara Deniz Eregli dedicated to Greek-Turkish cooperation and friendship.

The delegation departed on Friday and will comprise veteran left-wing politician Leonidas Kyrkos, Andreas Politakis and V. Zahariadis.

This is the ninth consecutive year that Greek politicians have attended the Eregli festival.

Eregli has been twinned with the municipality of the island of Ydra, while the mayors of both had been awarded the Abdi Ipekci Communication Award.

The awards were created by a Greek initiative following the assassination of the Turkish pacifist journalist Abdi Ipekci, director of the Turkish newspaper ''Milliyet'' in February, 1979.

[04] Gov't spokesman comments on airspace violations by Turkey

Greece will be lodging a demarche with the Turkish ambassador in Athens on Friday over the violations of Greek airspace by Turkish fighter jets above Rhodes, government spokesman Tilemachos Hytiris said.

The violations took place on Wednesday above the island's civilian airport, endangering the flight safety of civilian aircraft.

Hytiris said an equivalent demarche had been lodged with the Turkish foreign ministry in Ankara on Thursday.

The deputy press minister also noted that the demarche had been strongly worded and stressed that interceptions by the Greek side were being carried out normally.

[05] Trade ties dominate Simitis' last day in China

SHANGHAI (ANA V. Mourtis) Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis concluded his six-day official visit to the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) here on Friday with a round of high-level talks with several of the dynamic Chinese metropolis business leaders.

The Greek premier participated and briefly addressed a joint Greek-Chinese business in Shanghai before also touring a Greek-owned marble processing plant in the area.

Simitis reiterated that Athens goal is to balance Greece-China trade, which at present swings distinctly in favour of the latter.

?Greece and China can take steps in the right direction in order to achieve economic prosperity, social cohesion and justice; and they have posted significant successes,? he said.

Simitis is expected to return to Athens in the early morning hours on Saturday.

[06] Pres. Stephanopoulos voices concern over rise of ultra-Right in Europe

SYDNEY (ANA - N. Megadoukas) -- Greece's President Kostis Stephanopoulos, currently on an official visit to Australia, on Friday voiced concern over the recent rise of the ultra-Right in Europe, but at the same time expressed certainty that democracy had ''strong antibodies'' that would prevail over ''these extreme ideas''.

Stephanopoulos, in Sydney on the third and final stopover of his Australian visit, was warmly recieved by the parliament of New South Wales and, in a greeting, referred to the ''worrying'' phenomena of disdainment of politics and politicians on the part of the people in Europe, including Greece.

Stephanopoulos attributed these phenomena to the fact that ideologies have weakened, and to a ''uniformity'' among the political parties that resulted from globalisation, and said these were also resonsible for the rise in the ultra-Right.

The rise in the ultra-Right's popularity further resulted from the fear and concern existing in the popular strata over the fact that foreign immigrants had not been absorbed and assimilated in the societies in which they lived, the Greek president continued.

He cited the examples of France, Denmark and The Netherlands, where a rise in the ultra-Right, a phenomenon ''that is incompatible with the rules of democracy'', has been recorded.

Stephanopoulos noted that democracy was functioning smoothly in Australia, but added that democratic ideals were not prevalent everywhere.

[07] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

Indicative tourist buying rates per euro until Monday

U.S. dollar 0.952

Pound sterling 0.651

Danish kroner 7.494

Swedish kroner 9.298

Japanese yen 118.5

Swiss franc 1.482

Norwegian kroner 7.502

Cyprus pound 0.585

Canadian dollar 1.459

Australian dollar 1.661

[08] Weather Forecast: Light cloud on Saturday

Scattered cloud is forecast in all parts of the country, and it may rain in Epirus and Macedonia in the morning. Winds variable, light. In the north and west, temperatures will range from 16C to 29C; on the rest of the mainland from 20C to 32C; and in the Aegean islands from 20C to 32C. Scattered cloud in Athens, with temperatures between 20C and 33C. Same in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from 18C to 33C.

[09] Profit taking reverses two-day rally in ASE

Greek stocks ended 1.02 percent lower on Friday, as profit taking and a negative climate in international markets reversed a two-day rally in the Athens Stock Exchange.

Traders said, however, that Greek investors remained generally calm.

The general index fell 1.02 percent to end at 2,295.93 points, with turnover a low 77.6 million euros.

The Retail sector was the only one to score gains (0.13 percent), while the Holding, Textile and Publication sectors suffered the heaviest percentage losses of the day (2.43 percent, 2.23 percent and 1.59 percent, respectively).

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 1.07 percent lower, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index fell 0.72 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index eased 1.40 percent.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 268 to 55 with another 31 issues unchanged.

The general index ended the week 0.07 percent lower.

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