Athens News Agency: News in English, 06-09-30

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

CONTENTS

[01] FM attends PAA gala awarding Mitsotakis, Tsakopoulos

[02] Culture minister to open 10th Cretan Studies Conference

[01] FM attends PAA gala awarding Mitsotakis, Tsakopoulos

Greek-American businessman Angelos Tsakopoulos, the founder of several Greek Studies seats at U.S. universities, received the Kazantzakis award during the same event.

Thanking the PAA for honouring him with the award, Mitsotakis also responded to questions regarding the dispute with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) over its adoption of the name 'Macedonia', also shared with a northern Greek province on FYROM's border, which had first erupted during his time in government in the early 1990s.

Mitsotakis defended his desire at that time to avoid an escalation of the issue:

"At that time I had sought a median solution. This was, unfortunately, not made possible and I think that was a mistake and did damage. Today, I think again that such a median solution is called for, a mutually acceptable solution," he said.

At the same time, he added that Greece was not as concerned over the issue now as then and that it was up to Skopje to make the next move.

"One thing is certain. There is no Greek Parliament that will accept that country's admission into NATO or Europe unless the name problem has been solved. Apart from that, it's not our problem. Let those who have the problem solve it," he said.

The event was earlier addressed by Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis, who conveyed a message from Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis stressing his "faith and pride" in the Greek diaspora.

Bakoyannis also stressed her own deep pride during the event, which apart from honouring her father Constantine Mitsotakis and Tsakopoulos, who had done so much for Greeks and humanity, was also organised by a major Greek-American group with the participation of more than a 1,000 Greek-Americans.

In addition to Karamanlis, congratulations to Mitsotakis and Tsakopoulos were also sent by U.S. President George Bush, Greek Parliament President Anna Psarouda-Benaki, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, New York governor George Pataki and several others.

[02] Culture minister to open 10th Cretan Studies Conference

It will be attended by 766 experts in Cretan studies, of which 549 are Greeks and another 217 come from 32 countries around the world, while the U.S. and Australia are amply represented.

The conference is held every five years since 1961 and acts a meeting place for researchers of the Minoan and Classical periods of ancient Crete, as well as Byzantologists, scholars of the Venetian period, the Cretan Renaissance and of modern-Greek studies at European universities.

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