Athens News Agency: News in English, 02-11-22

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

CONTENTS

[01] Weather Forecast: Scattered cloud, showers on Friday

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates - Friday

[03] Greek PM deplores lack of progress on Euroforce issue at Prague

[01] Weather Forecast: Scattered cloud, showers on Friday

Scattered cloud and showers are forecast in all parts of the country, with isolated storms mainly in the west, centre and south. Winds southerly, moderate to strong. In the north, temperatures will range from 07C to 16C; in the Ionian and on the rest of the mainland from 10C to 18C; and in the Aegean islands from 12C to 20C. Temperatures in Athens between 13C and 18C, with showers and possibly a storm; and showers in Thessaloniki with temperatures from 10C to 16C.

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates - Friday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.011

Pound sterling 0.640

Danish kroner 7.485

Swedish kroner 9.135

Japanese yen 123.7

Swiss franc 1.480

Norwegian kroner 7.374

Cyprus pound 0.576

Canadian dollar 1.597

Australian dollar 1.798

[03] Greek PM deplores lack of progress on Euroforce issue at Prague

PRAGUE (ANA - V. Mourtis) Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis on Thursday deplored the lack of progress on the Euroforce issue at the historic NATO summit in Prague, which opened the Alliance's doors to seven former Eastern Bloc countries.

Simitis said it was ''not positive'' that NATO had failed to take advantage of the opportunity to regulate military cooperation with the EU.

During Thursday's summit, Turkey once again blocked an agreement for EU-NATO military cooperation based on the EU Brussels decision. This text was a significant departure from that of the so-called 'Ankara document' drafted collaboratively by the United States, Britain and Turkey but opposed by Athens.

Instead, NATO leaders adopted an EU proposal for a joint military exercise between NATO and EU forces in 2003 and approved the start of the necessary processes and preparations, though a final decision on whether and when it will be carried out is still pending.

According to Greek Defence Minister Yiannos Papantoniou, this was due to an issue raised by the Turkish ambassador to the meeting.

Commenting on the results of the summit, the Greek premier said it had focused on NATO expansion and the Alliance's role at a time when international relations and technology were constantly changing and the world was faced with new threats, such as terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.

The decision to admit seven new countries that were once behind the Iron Curtain, proved that the division of the world into two camps was a thing of the past, Simitis said.

In a historic decision on Thursday in Prague, the same city where the decision to break up the Warsaw Pact was taken a few years ago, NATO decided to admit Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, spreading NATO's security guarantee from the Baltic to the Black Sea.

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