Athens News Agency: News in English, 03-12-19

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

CONTENTS

[01] Greece, Cyprus, ranked in top category in annual Freedom of the World

[02] Gov't responds to Turkish PM's statements on Cyprus issue

[03] Foreign policy Council discusses Cyprus, FYROM name issue

[04] Conference in London on business between Greece, UK

[05] Foreign Exchange Rates: Monday

[06] Athens Bourse Close: Stocks rise in brisk buying

[01] Greece, Cyprus, ranked in top category in annual Freedom of the World report

New York (ANA-P. Panagiotou) -- Greece and Cyprus are included in the list of 88 countries, comprising 44 percent of the world population, rated as ''Free'' in the annual report ''Freedom in the World 2004'' released Thursday by the non-government, non-partisan organisation ''Freedom House'', which has been issuing the annual report since 1972.

The survey concerns protection of political rights and civil liberties in 192 countries for the period of January 1 through November 30, 2003.

Greece has been rated in the top category 1 (on a scale of 1 to 7)with respect to protection of political rights and in category 2 with respect to protection of civil liberties, with an average rating of 1.5, presenting no change from the previous year's report.

[02] Gov't responds to Turkish PM's statements on Cyprus issue

Responding to statements made by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan regarding the Cyprus issue, Greek government spokesman Christos Protopapas on Friday noted that recent statements by Turkey's political leadership regarding the Cyprus problem were ''acutely conflicting''.

In his response to Thursday's statements by Erdogan earlier in the day, Protopapas noted that these were in the same spirit as past Turkish statements that had led to the present deadlock and warned Turkey that these policies would be an obstacle in its relations with the European Union.

''In all cases, the framework for a solution of the political problem on Cyprus is the Annan plan,'' he stressed, referring to the peace plan presented by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

He underlined that all discussions and negotiations will take place on the basis of this plan.

''This is what the EU wants, this is what the entire international community wants, this is the position of the United Nations and, of course, our own,'' Protopapas added.

[03] Foreign policy Council discusses Cyprus, FYROM name issue

The National Council for Foreign Policy met on Friday to discuss issues pertaining to the Cyprus problem and the outstanding dispute with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) over its use of the name 'Macedonia'.

The Council was chaired by Foreign Minister George Papandreou.

[04] Conference in London on business between Greece, UK

A conference on business cooperation between Greece and the United Kingdom will be held in London on January 19, 2004.

The meeting arranged by the Hellenic-British Chamber of Commerce will also look at the outlook for the Greek economy and banking system.

Among speakers will be Finance Minister Nikos Christodoulakis and Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Andreas Loverdos.

[05] Foreign Exchange Rates: Monday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.251

Pound sterling 0.708

Danish kroner 7.502

Swedish kroner 9.181

Japanese yen 134.7

Swiss franc 1.567

Norwegian kroner 8.398

Cyprus pound 0.589

Canadian dollar 1.671

Australian dollar 1.697

[06] Athens Bourse Close: Stocks rise in brisk buying

The Athens bourse finished higher on Friday in brisk buying across the board, traders said.

The general share index gained 1.05 percent to end at 2,210.68 points. Turnover was 298.8 million euros.

The FTSE/ASE-20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks ended 1.34 per cent up; the FTSE/ASE-40 for medium capitalisation paper 1.0 per cent higher; and the FTSE/ASE-80 for small cap equities finished with gains of 1.69 percent.

Of stocks traded, advances led declines at 256 to 46 with 57 issues remaining unchanged.

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