Athens News Agency: News in English, 08-02-27

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

CONTENTS

[01] PASOK leader chairs party meeting

[02] Athens warns Skopje

[03] FM concludes Maghreb tour

[04] NATO SG in Athens on Monday

[01] PASOK leader chairs party meeting

On the question of rallies concerning the name of the neighbouring Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), it was assessed during the meeting that "everybody has the right to express his opposition to government policy" and that "the reaction of the people to this policy" is understandable, but it was also stressed that "the country needs a serious foreign policy and appropriate moves and not rallies."

Also discussed were issues concerning the Public Power Corporation (DEH), as well as Papandreou's question to the prime minister on first and second stage educational matters.

Apart from current political developments, the second issue examined was the course towards PASOK's 8th congress and satisfaction was expressed over the completion of the phase of electing delegates to the congress.

Wider consensus was also expressed in principle for PASOK's organisational issues, since it was assessed that the experience obtained in past years has highlighted both the positive and negative aspects of its organisational functioning.

Lastly, PASOK's Central Congress Organising Committee will be convening on Friday.

[02] Athens warns Skopje

"This is a very serious issue. Our country's attention and what has always been at the core of our policy is not an obsession or a focus on the name for the name but because there was and is a belief, confirmed by the actions taken on the part of the Skopje government, that the name is a vehicle of precisely such irredentist reasoning and irredentist actions. This is the reason why the name issue causes concern. It is not a sentimental or other obsession of Greece over a name," Koumoutsakos stressed.

Questioned about Greece's position on a "double" name for FYROM, the spokesman said that Skopje insisted on presenting the issue as purely bilateral but had failed to reply convincingly to the arguments of the Greek side supporting the opposite.

"Their view on a double name is that there must be one name for the entire world, the constitutional name, and another name that will concern only Greece that they will decide following negotiations - and that this is the object of the negotiations. You can see that such a view on a double formula or double name is not even a starting point for talks," Koumoutsakos said.

He said that the present time was a "turning point" in the process, with talks on the name dispute due to begin in New York on Friday, just days before a meeting of NATO foreign ministers that would also discuss preparations for the upcoming NATO summit in April.

"One of the major issues discussed, if not the most important, will be the Alliance's expansion policy, in which the neighbouring country hopes to be included. The conjunction in time of these critical and important discussions underlines in the clearest way how delicate a stage in time of the negotiations we are now in," the spokesman said.

Asked if the meetings between Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis and the political party leaders had resulted in a consensus on the issue, Koumoutsakos replied that Greece was "currently in the process of negotiations".

"In spite of this, the decision of the government and the foreign ministry to inform the President of the Republic and the leaders of the political parties is given and is being carried out. The reasoning is that all sides are briefed and the conditions and dynamic created for a consensus that is necessary in all issues of foreign policy. The briefing was substantive and the dialogue with the political parties, when needed, will be repeated depending on developments," he said.

He also denied knowledge of any NATO request to change the terms of Greece's participation in the Alliance's force in Afghanistan, which was deployed based on a UNSC resolution:

"Greece has a very important and serious presence in Afghanistan and other missions around the world. It actively participates in missions for peace and stability in the world, always on the basis of a strong legitimacy and is an ally of 55 years. It has its own, substantial, many-faceted and serious participation in the Alliance's efforts all these years. It is a reliable partner and ally in NATO and this must be taken into account both now and in the next stages," he stressed.

[03] FM concludes Maghreb tour

Bakoyannis held bilateral contacts with the state and political leaderships of the three Maghreb countries, in which all sides had a favourable view of the expansion to the east of the "five plus five" formation (that includes the five Maghreb countries and the five European ones in the western Mediterranean) with the participation of Greece and Egypt.

Such an expansion will consolidate the presence of Greece in the western Mediterranean as well, apart from the eastern, where it is already dynamically present and will open new markets for Greek businesses.

The Greek economic mission, with the participation of institutional representatives of Greek businessmen in Algeria under Theodoros Skylakakis, which was combined with the visit by Bakoyannis, shows Greece's practical interest in the region.

Bakoyannis was due to return to Athens from Tunis on Wednesday.

In Tunis she met with the country's President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and with Foreign Minister Abdelwahab Abdallah in the morning.

Speaking after her meeting with her Tunisian counterpart, Bakoyannis said that "Euromediterranean cooperation is very important for us and constitutes a priority for our foreign policy," reiterating what she also told the leaders of Morocco and Algeria that "our joint pursuit is for the Mediterranean to turn into a sea of peace and prosperity."

Caption: ANA-MPA file photo of Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis.

[04] NATO SG in Athens on Monday

De Hoop Scheffer's visit is taking place in the framework of his contacts ahead of a NATO Summit on April 2-4 in Bucharest.

The NATO chief will be meeting Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis, with talks focusing on the Alliance's expansion, developments in Kosovo and the Western Balkans, EU-NATO relations and the situation in Afghanistan, Koumoutsakos added.

De Hoop Scheffer will also hold a press conference at the end of his talks.

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