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Wednesday, 4 December 2024 | ||
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Athens News Agency: News in English, 10-04-22Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] FinMin first talks with IMF teamFinance Minister George Papaconstantinou and a team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had a first meeting in Athens on Wednesday, initiating the start of talks that will ultimately lead to a joint agreement between the finance ministry, the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank.Ana-MpaThe IMF team will also visit other Greek ministries (Economy, Competitiveness and Shipping, the Interior ministry and the Labour ministry) in order to have a more complete picture of the situation. The finance ministry announced that the end of the negotiations process will result in a joint document. This is expected to include further policies of fiscal adjustment, mainly for the year 2011, and the structural changes that must be made. The greater part of this document will be the same as the one the finance ministry must send to the European Commission by May 15, while the rest will concern financing issues. Once the document is complete, in any case, the Greek side, the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank will have reached a level of preparation where they can activate the EU-IMF support mechanism for Greece without delays. [02] Ballistics examination concludedAna-MpaThe first stage of the ballistics examination of firearms found in a Revolutionary Struggle terrorist group safehouse in the central Athens district of Kypseli earlier in the week was completed late Wednesday night, police said.Three guns -- two Yugoslav-made Zastava 9mm pistols and a Browning 22mm pistol of unknown origin -- have not been used in terrorist attacks, the ballistics report showed, while the investigation is continuing to find whether the three pistols have been used in common crimes. [03] Alternate FM in EstoniaAna-MpaAlternate foreign minister Dimitris Droutsas will be in Estonia on Thursday and Friday for an informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Tallinn, on the sidelines of which he will have a series of bilateral meetings.Droutsas is slated to hold bilateral talks with the foreign ministers of Turkey Ahmet Davutoglu, Albania Ilir Meta, Estonia Urma Paet and Australia Stephen Smith. Discussions during the first day of the proceedings are to focus on the Alliance's new Strategic Concept, reorganization of the Alliance's headquarters and the "Open Door" policy. The working dinner on Thursday evening will also focus on missile defense and nuclear issues. [04] Nationwide strike on Thu.Ana-mpaThe civil service umbrella union ADEDY on Tuesday urged all public-sector unions and workers to turn out in force for the strike declared on Thursday, April 22, and attend strike rallies on that day. It said that tours and meetings were being held in the work places of most of its members in order to prepare the strike.An ADEDY announcement stressed that public sector staff were continuing and escalating their struggle with the demand that the rich and powerful be called to pay for the crisis, not just the workers, and for the government to withdraw anti-popular measures that drastically reduced income and added to the tax burden. Twenty-seven public and private-sector trade unions, including the local authority staff union federation POE-OTA or the civil aviation authority union, have so far decided to participate in the strike called by ADEDY, as well as the Union of Civil Servants Organisations of Thessaloniki. [05] Athens Newspaper HeadlinesThe Thursday edition of Athens' dailies at a glanceThe skyrocketing of the spread at 529 units and the start of deliberations between Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou and EU, IMF and ECB delegation and the nationwide strike that declared the unions protesting for government's austerity measures, mostly dominated the headlines on Thursday in Athens' newspapers. ADESMEFTOS TYPOS: "Government orgy of hirings 'by exception' in public sector". APOGEVMATINI: "Turmoil in ruling PASOK party over the measures". AVGHI: "Put a halt to the bankrupt policy, now - 24-hour strike in public sector on Thursday". AVRIANI: "(Citizens Protection minister) Chrysohoidis dared to put a stop to the huge scandal - He abrogated the C4I (Athens 2004 Olympics security system) contract and withheld the 18,877.376 euro letters of guarantee". ELEFTHEROS: "Unbelievable scam by Manpower Employment Organisation employees - 1.5 million euros disappeared into thin air". ELEFTHEROS TYPOS: "Blackmail by the speculators (22 international banks) - Prosecutor must intervene". ELEFTHEROTYPIA: "Government bargaining with tripartite (EU-ECB-IMF) delegation over the support mechanism begins". ESTIA: "Greece in first place in corruption according to Brookings Institute report". ETHNOS: "Six 'injections' to boost tourism - Prime Minister George Papandreou's message ahead of a difficult summer". IMERISSIA: "IMF's conditions on the table - Scissoring in public and private sector". KATHIMERINI: "Days of uncertainty for Greece - Deliberations with IMF at a crucial point - Germany's stance unpredictable - Suffocation on the market". LOGOS: "Heavy bargaining under the shadow of the spreads - The outcome of the deliberations uncertain". NAFTEMPORIKI: "Deliberations on the measures with the spread reaching 500 basis units". RIZOSPASTIS: "The workers' heart is beating today at Syntagma square - The impact of the 48ihour strike is tremendous'. TA NEA: "Battle against time, bargaining with IMF - The borrowing conditions on the table". TO VIMA: "IMF typhoon over salaries, pensions and lay-offs: Reforms everywhere or else you will go bankrupt". VRADYNI: "Alibi for recourse to IMF - Government's communication trick against main opposition New Democracy". Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |