Athens News Agency: News in English, 10-09-02

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

CONTENTS

[01] Outgoing US envoy praises growth in Greek-US ties

[02] Athens: Turkey must lift threat

[03] GDP shrinks 3.5% in Q2

[01] Outgoing US envoy praises growth in Greek-US ties

Speckhard briefed local reporters for the last time in his official diplomatic capacity, as a new envoy -- identified as ambassador-designate Daniel Bennett Smith -- is expected to arrive in the east Mediterranean country next month.

The veteran US diplomat listed a handful of issues he said now form a "broader and more global agenda" in Greek-US relations, including the effects of the fiscal crisis throughout the world, a coordinated response to migration pressures -- a problem he said is faced by both the United States and Greece -- as well as climate change, people trafficking and shipping security, as Greek-owned vessels comprise the biggest merchant fleet in the world.

He listed the visit of Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou to the White House last March as a "high point" of his three-year tenure in Athens, coming on the heels of Greece's long-sought inclusion in the US visa waiver program, while pointing to the killing of innocent people by urban terrorists and extremists as the "low point".

Speckhard emphasised that he worked well with both the previous government and the current Papandreou government, noting that the latter is currently pressing forward with "strategic issues" while at the same time facing massive domestic problems, i.e. the fiscal and economic woes.

Asked directly about the prospect of returned economic growth in the country vis-?-vis a bevy of austerity measures taken as part of a memorandum agreed to with the EU-ECB-IMF 'troika', Speckhard stressed:

"The previous path led to bankruptcy, so whatever (economic) growth would have been greatly delayed. Now, growth will come sooner," he said.

Queried on the issue of transnational illegal immigration, especially on Greece's sea and land borders with EU hopeful Turkey, the US ambassador said the problem is not just a Greek-Turkish matter, but a European and often a global problem, and one that requires a multi-level approach. Along these lines, he repeated that peace-keeping efforts by the international community in Afghanistan and support for ravaged Pakistan are fundamental to keeping the tide of illegal immigration from Central and South Asia towards Europe in check.

As in previous press briefings, the envoy cited US concerns over the possibility of international terrorist networks and cells using illegal migration and undocumented migrants' communities as covers.

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[02] Athens: Turkey must lift threat

Pointing out that Greece had a sovereign right to extend its territorial waters under both maritime and European law, spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras said the mere existence of Turkey's 'casus belli' was unacceptable.

"It is inconceivable that there is a threat of war by a candidate state against a member-state of the EU, given also the framework in which international relations develop in our times. It is up to Turkey to abolish it," the spokesman underlined when asked about recent statements made on the issue by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

Delavekouras repeated Greece's support for Turkey's rapprochement with the EU and said that Athens will continue efforts to improve bilateral relations "with very careful steps and without compromising sovereign rights".

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[03] GDP shrinks 3.5% in Q2

The EU executiveâs statistics agency, in a report on its first estimates over economic growth in the Eurozone and the EU-27, said GDP in both areas grew by 1.0 pct in the April-June period. ANA-MPA

Eurostat said Gross Domestic Growth in Greece was down 3.5 pct in the second quarter of 2010 compared with the corresponding period in2009, while GDP in the Eurozone and the EU-27 grew by 1.9 pct over the same period. ANA-MPA

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