Athens News Agency: News in English, 02-12-14

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

CONTENTS

[01] PM says strategy brought EU entry for Cyprus

[02] Greek investment outflows rising sharply

[03] EU cannot replace governments as welfare provider, minister says

[04] Greek supermarket chain opens outlet in Belgrade

[05] Ex-mental patient charged with attempted murder of Athens mayor

[06] Archbishop calls EU entry for Cyprus a historic event

[07] Former PM welcomes EU entry for Cyprus

[08] Greece wants to see reunified Cyprus joining EU

[09] Communist party sees Cyprus' EU entry as seal on division

[10] Coalition of the Left welcomes EU entry approval for Cyprus

[11] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

[01] PM says strategy brought EU entry for Cyprus

Prime Minister Costas Simitis said on Saturday that the right strategy had led to a European Union decision last week to admit Cyprus into the 15-member bloc.

''Cyprus has joined the EU and Copenhagen was a success, as we worked strategically, with planning, with a concrete concept of what we wanted to achieve,'' Simitis told reporters on arrival from the EU summit in the Danish capital.

''This is a lesson that success cannot be attained through rhetoric or vocal patriotic pronouncements. We cannot succeed if we see before us only party political expediency. We succeed if we have the belief and perception that Greeece comes first,'' he said.

Foreign Minister George Papandreou said the summit's decision on Cyprus carried major historical significance both for the EU and for the region.

''The decisions have opened the way for peace and stability in the region, which has been sorely tried by wars, clashes and threats. Today, we are turning over a new leaf, forging a different path for the future of Cyprus and Greece, while our ties with neighbouring Turkey have also changed for the better,'' Papandreou said.

He added that he believed it would be tough but not impossible to hammer out a solution to the Cyprus problem by February 28 based on a recent UN plan.

''Much hard work is still needed but there is a will for a solution, and the tools,'' he said.

''A year ago, there were intense anti-reactions from Turkey when the matter of resolving the Cyprus issue was raised, going as far as threats of incidents. Yesterday, the climate was completely different, with an intense will for resolution,'' the minister noted.

Asked to comment on the impact of the EU decision on Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, he replied: ''If Rauf Denktash wished to, he could make history, not only for Turkey but for international politics. Unfortunately, not only has he failed to make history but history has relegated him to the sidelines.''

''Turkey has shown that it wants to move forward, and that it is capable of doing so,'' he added.

[02] Greek investment outflows rising sharply

Investment outflows by domestic firms have risen sharply in recent years due to money placed in operations abroad, mainly in southeastern Europe, Development Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos said on Saturday.

"The country is going through a particularly significant phase during which investment capital outflows are becoming larger than inflows," Tzohatzopoulos said in the northern port city of Thessaloniki.

The minister was speaking at the Money Show, a trade fair, as part of a presentation on financing to Balkan and Mediterranean countries.

He underlined the importance of the European Investment Bank in the region, including Greece.

[03] EU cannot replace governments as welfare provider, minister says

The European Union cannot replace national governments as the provider of aid for the underprivileged, Education Minister Petros Efthymiou said on Saturday.

Each EU member should build its own structures to help the needy in order to match the level of development in other members states, Efthymiou said in a greeting to a diplomatic seminar.

He was commenting on economic inequality among existing members, and with countries that will join the EU in the future.

In the seminar, the ambassadors of Italy, Spain and Germany to Greece debated forging the EU's future in the wake of enlargement. The three agreed that a democratically-operating social model was required to maintain the bloc's identity.

[04] Greek supermarket chain opens outlet in Belgrade

BELGRADE (ANA/N.Pelpas) - Veropoulos, a Greek supermarket chain, on Saturday launched an outlet in the Yugoslav capital, its first in the Balkan country.

The ''Super Vero'' supermarket in Belgrade at 6,000 square metres is the company's largest among 205 units in Greece, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia, company president Nikos Veropoulos told the Athens News Agency.

''The (four-million euro) investment in Serbia is a challenge as the area is characterised as high-risk due to a deep economic crisis. Nevertheless, with our reasonable prices and excellent service we will win the confidence of consumers,'' Veropoulos said in an interview.

Among officials present at the inauguration was the Greek Ambassador to Yugoslavia, Michalis Spinelis.

[05] Ex-mental patient charged with attempted murder of Athens mayor

A public prosecutor on Saturday charged a former mental patient with attempted murder and illegal arms possession and use after the man fired into a parked car carrying the newly elected mayor of Athens.

Dora Bakoyanni, a veteran deputy of the main opposition New Democracy party, suffered slight injuries to the face and hands from flying glass following the shot from a hunting rifle.

Her driver, a police officer, sustained more serious injuries.

The perpetrator, identified as George Sandalis, 35, was described by police as mentally unstable.

In 1997, Sandalis was committed to a psychiatric hospital for an unspecified time.

[06] Archbishop calls EU entry for Cyprus a historic event

Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All Greece on Saturday welcomed approval by the European Union for entry by Cyprus into the 15-nation bloc, calling the move a historic event.

"This is the reward for a long-term struggle by Greek Cypriots, and the product of major efforts by the Cypriot and Greek governments," the archbishop told reporters.

[07] Former PM welcomes EU entry for Cyprus

A former prime minister of the main opposition New Democracy (ND) party on Saturday called a decision taken at the European Union's Copenhagen summit to admit Cyprus into the 15-nation bloc ''a success for the nation''.

''This was a good outcome for Cyprus,'' said Constantine Mitsotakis, ND's honorary president.

[08] Greece wants to see reunified Cyprus joining EU

NICOSIA (ANA) - Greece would like to see a reunified Cyprus joining the European Union, Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou told Cyprus' PIK television.

Papandreou was speaking after an EU summit in Copenhagen approved Cyprus's entry into the 15-member bloc late on Friday.

The next task was to solve the island's political problem, the minister said.

He also welcomed a desire by Turkish Cypriots to attain reunification and membership of the EU; and Turkey's response to the summit decision.

''Threats are no longer being heard. On the contrary, Turkey has said it will endeavour to find a solution to the Cyprus problem,'' Papandreou added.

[09] Communist party sees Cyprus' EU entry as seal on division

The Communist Party of Greece said on Saturday that Cyprus' entry into the European Union, approved a day earlier, represented a seal on the island nation's division.

''The division of Cyprus was formalised at the Copenhagen summit with entry of 62 percent of the island into the EU,'' the party said in a statement.

''The Copenhagen decision makes no mention of the 'Republic of Cyprus','' the statement said.

Negotiations on the Cyprus problem would be linked more directly to an entry date for Turkey into the 15-nation bloc, and with claims to the Aegean and Greek sovereign rights that the neighbouring country has made at NATO, it added.

[10] Coalition of the Left welcomes EU entry approval for Cyprus

The Coalition of the Left and Progress on Saturday welcomed approval by the European Union for entry by Cyprus into the 15-nation bloc as a historic event, but hard work was still needed to attain reunification of the divided island.

''We must now make use of the momentum created by entry and the current juncture to ensure a just and viable solution to the island's political problem,'' party leader Nikos Konstantopoulos said in a statement.

''The solution would be operational and in line with European Union legislation and UN resolutions,'' Konstantopoulos said.

[11] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.030

Pound sterling 0.649

Danish kroner 7.485

Swedish kroner 9.193

Japanese yen 125.4

Swiss franc 1.488

Norwegian kroner 7.388

Cyprus pound 0.577

Canadian dollar 1.601

Australian dollar 1.819

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