Athens News Agency: News in English, 08-10-14

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

CONTENTS

[01] Papoulias's visit to Vietnam

[02] KKE leader on youth

[01] Papoulias's visit to Vietnam

Earlier, Papoulias had laid a wreath at the Vietnamese peoples' "national heroes and martyrs" monument and he is scheduled to visit the old imperial city Hue on Tuesday afternoon.

A member of the president's delegation, Deputy Health Minister George Constantopoulos, at the same time paid a visit to a school in Hanoi for children victims of dioxin. This toxic powder was sprayed on Vietnamese forests and crops by U.S. forces during the war in Vietnam so that they would wither and not provide refuge for Vietnamese rebel troops.

Thirty years later, the victims of the highly toxic dioxin are estimated to be as many as three million, among them 150,000 children that were born with motor or mental disabilities as a result of dioxin poisoning suffered by their parents.

The repercussions of this particular method of war are predicted to plague the Vietnamese for several years to come, as scientists expect children with dioxin-linked problems to be born for at least two more generations.

At a special ceremony held at the school, the Greek deputy minister presented the headmaster with 100 wheelchairs for children with special needs and the sum of 40,000 euros to cover some of the school's operating expenses.

Also in the framework of the president's visit, a business forum was held on Tuesday morning at a hotel in Hanoi, where Greek investors in the delegation accompanying Papoulias met with Vietnamese business people and discussed potential areas of cooperation.

The forum was addressed by Deputy Foreign Minister Petros Doukas, one of the ministers accompanying the president, who outlined the advantages Greece offers to foreign investors seeking a base for their activities in southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean.

[02] KKE leader on youth

The press conference formed part of KKE's campaign to highlight the problems faced by TEI students. Papariga underlined that these were directly linked to the economic and political state of the country and outlined her party's proposals for improving TEIs.

Among others, she said that her party opposed the direction of the Bologna Process, the recognition of private 'Liberal Studies Centres' as equal to Greek state universities and TEI, and the direct or indirect abolition of article 16 of the Greek Constitution, while supporting the right to a single state education system offering free and high-quality education, with measures to protect its graduates.

In answer to a comment by Education Minister Evripidis Stylianidis - who had spoken of a "fashion of school takeovers" - Papariga underlined that protests were not a fashion and accused the minister of trying to discredit and slander protest struggles and of trying to drive a wedge between young people, their parents and working people.

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