Athens News Agency: News in English, 05-03-16

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

CONTENTS

[01] Mariliza Xenoyiannakopoulou elected PASOK party's National Council secretary

[02] Greece supports European Commission's proposal for Fourth Community Support Framework

[03] EU General Affairs Council postpones Croatia's EU accession talks

[04] FM Petros Molyviatis to make working visit to Ankara

[01] Mariliza Xenoyiannakopoulou elected PASOK party's National Council secretary

Xenoyiannakopoulou received 81.4 percent of votes, losing only 18.6 percent of the votes, while the losses of previous secretaries were in the region of 25-35 percent.

Votes were cast by 280 National Council members in Wednesday's election, out of a total of 288 members comprising the Council. Forty-eight votes were blank and four void.

Earlier, PASOK leader George Papandreou addressed the National Council which convened for the first time since it was elected to vote for a secretary and the members of the Political Council.

Papandreou said the citizens are expecting a great deal from PASOK, while he himself expects "positions and attitudes which will live up to what the Greek people want."

[02] Greece supports European Commission's proposal for Fourth Community Support Framework

"Greece supports the Commission's proposal. It is a balanced solution since the proposed budget is the minimum that can ensure achievement of the EU's common goals, success of EU enlargement, and can promote European cohesion and competitiveness and effectively address the problems and challenges which arise as a result of the varying levels of development among the 25 EU member-states," Karamanlis said.

The Greek prime minister emphasised the good level of cooperation between Greece and the European Commission in utilising the Community Support Framework. Regarding the possibility of funds being withheld from the Third Community Support Framework, Karamanlis noted that "we are addressing issues which arose in the past and we have restructured the public works system."

[03] EU General Affairs Council postpones Croatia's EU accession talks

The EU General Affairs Council decided to postpone Croatia's EU accession talks, which were scheduled to begin Thursday, since the country has failed to comply with the International Court's decision to arrest fugitive General Ante Gotovina. Croatia has cooperated with the international court in 625 cases, while only Gotovina's case remains pending.

Commenting on the issue, Deputy Foreign Minister Yiannis Valinakis, who represented Greece at the Council, said that "This is a harsh slap for a country which has respected deadlines and has complied with all other criteria."

The Greek deputy minister noted that Greece supports Croatia's EU prospects, as well as the prospects of all countries in Southeast Europe, provided they meet all the necessary criteria, especially in terms of preserving international justice. "We don't want any discounts made on accession criteria," Valinakis said.

[04] FM Petros Molyviatis to make working visit to Ankara

As is customary, the specific date for the visit will be set through diplomatic channels.

According to reports, April 12 and 13 are considered the most probable dates for the visit.

However, the foreign ministry did not confirm information that a visit to Turkey by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis is also being planned.

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