Athens News Agency: News in English, 03-07-08

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

CONTENTS

[01] Weather Forecast: Sunny in many areas on Tuesday

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates - Tuesday

[03] PM tells new cabinet he will brook no delays in government's work

[04] DMs of Greece and Serbia-Montenegro examine military cooperation

[01] Weather Forecast: Sunny in many areas on Tuesday

Hot, sunny weather is forecast in many parts of the country. Scattered showers are expected in the centre and north. Winds northerly, moderate to strong, turning very strong in the southeastern Aegean. In the north, temperatures will range from 18C to 30C; on the rest of the mainland from 20C to 33C; and in the islands from 22C to 29C. Temperatures in Athens will range between 23C and 32C; and in Thessaloniki from 21C to 30C.

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates - Tuesday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.145

Pound sterling 0.694

Danish kroner 7.494

Swedish kroner 9.275

Japanese yen 135.1

Swiss franc 1.567

Norwegian kroner 8.353

Cyprus pound 0.591

Canadian dollar 1.542

Australian dollar 1.680

[03] PM tells new cabinet he will brook no delays in government's work

Addressing the new cabinet during its first meeting on Monday, Prime Minister Costas Simitis told ministers that he would brook no delays or lost time in carrying out the government programme and would not hesitate to make further changes ''to make things run faster.''

Relaying the prime minister's speech during the meeting, which was held immediately after Monday's swearing-in ceremony, government spokesman Christos Protopapas said Simitis had asked ministers for ''a fast pace'' in carrying out their work, noting that the government had nine months in which to meet the commitments it had undertaken before the Greek electorate.

''The present government composition is the result of a real need to push ahead with the government's work, for more effectiveness and continued intensive efforts,'' the premier said.

Apart from producing results, Simitis also emphasised the need to address problems that had a negative impact on the public's everyday life, such as long queues at public services, and new forms of exploitation and unethical business practices, such as banks issuing credit cards without any application via phone book listings.

''Such practices are unacceptable and must be dealt with, as must exploitative behaviour toward immigrants,'' he said.

For his own part, Simitis said he would be more closely monitoring the progress of preparations for the Olympic Games in 2004, starting with a meeting of the Interministerial Committee for Coordinating Olympic Games Preparations (DESOP) later in the week, and the 3rd Community Support Framework (CSF), where he would continue monthly meetings with the ministers involved in view of a mid-term review of the 3rd CSF in July.

[04] DMs of Greece and Serbia-Montenegro examine military cooperation possibilities

Defence Minister Yiannos Papantoniou held talks on Monday with his counterpart from Serbia-Montenegro Boris Tadic on possibilities of military cooperation between the two countries, while Papantoniou reiterated Greece's support for Serbia-Montenegro's claim for accession to Euro-Atlantic structures.

The Greek defence minister said the presence of a Greek officer in Belgrade was agreed to help efforts to modernise the armed forces of Serbia-Montenegro.

Also agreed were exchanges of visits by members of the two countries' armed forces, the training of Serbs and Montenegrins at Greek armed forces academies and the creation of an experts committee of the two ministries' General Armaments Department to probe the possibilities of cooperation between the two countries in the defence industry sector.

Papantoniou said that at a diplomatic level Greece supports the accession of the republic to SEDM, the initiative for cooperation between the countries of southeastern Europe, as well as to Partnership for Peace operations which constitutes the antechamber for its accession to NATO.

In addition, Greece will support the claim of Serbia-Montenegro for observer status at NATO's ministerial sessions.

Tadic invited Papantoniou to visit Belgrade at a time to be determined through diplomatic channels.

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