Athens News Agency: News in English, 05-03-29

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

CONTENTS

[01] Greek Independence Day celebrated at White House, FM concludes visit

[02] New development law in force this week

[03] British Airways launches direct Thessaloniki-London flights

[01] Greek Independence Day celebrated at White House, FM concludes visit

Greece's foreign minister Petros Molyviatis on Monday wound up a 5-day official visit to the US with talks with US state department's new undersecretary for political affairs Nicholas Burns, who is a former US ambassador to Greece, and attended an event organised at the White House commemorating the March 25 Greek Independence Day anniversary.

During his visit, Molyviatis also visited New York, where he held talks with UN secretary general Kofi Annan that covered, inter alia, the Cyprus issue, FYROM and Kosovo.

Speaking to reporters after his meeting with Burns, who was the US ambassador to Greece from 1997 to July 2001, Molyviatis said the talks had been "very useful, constructive and friendly", noting that his friendship with Burns dated back to the undersecretary's ambassadorial posting in Athens.

The talks focussed on bilateral relations and on international issues of interest to both Greece and the US.

"We discussed all the issues of interest to us, and once again reaffirmed the excellent level of our bilateral relations. We also examined issues concerning the wider region, the Balkans and FYROM and the developments in Kosovo. We further discussed the Middle East, the Cyprus issue, naturally and, given Greece's (non-permament) seat on the UN Security Council, we also discussed the situation in Sudan and the vote to take place next Wednesday on this issue," Molyviatis said.

Burns was sworn in as Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, the third highest ranking in the State Department, last week. Molyviatis was the first foreign minister to meet with Burns in his new capacity.

Synopsizing his meetings in New York and Washington, Molyviatis described his visit as "very positive", ans spoke of the "good results", noting that the most important outcome was the "new momentum" given to Greek-American relations with respect to both bilateral affairs and in the framework of cooperation at multilateral level.

Commenting on the White House event marking Greek Independence Day, which he attended earlier in the day as the guest of US president George Bush, with whom he held a brief discussion, Molyviatis said it had been a touching celebration. The event was also attended by Archbishop Demetrios of America, and leading members of the Greek-American community, among others.

[02] New development law in force this week

The minister also said a new simpler, cheaper and flexible institutional framework will be created for licensing companies which will restrict bureaucratic burdens.

Sioufas outlined his ministry's initiatives concerning the citizen, the smooth operation of the market, healthy competition, the backing of enterprise, boosting competitiveness and attracting foreign investments.

He further said the draft bill on the natural gas market's deregulation will be made available for consultations this week, consultations will last until April 5, while immediately afterwards codes will be signed on the deregulation of the electric power market's deregulation and incentives will be provided for the implementation of investments.

[03] British Airways launches direct Thessaloniki-London flights

Company representatives organised a reception at a downtown hotel in the city and then went to Macedonia airport with their guests to welcome passengers arriving on the first flight from Britain.

British Airways will link Thessaloniki to London four times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday) with 140-seat Boeing 737 aircraft. Flights leave Macedonia airport at 16:25 and arrive at Gatwick airport at 17:50.

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