Athens News Agency: News in English, 10-11-05

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

CONTENTS

[01] Frontex patrols begin along Evros River

[02] Malmstrom refers to deal with Turkey over illegal migrants

[03] Greek bank deposits down in Sept.

[04] Greek bond market closing report

[05] Thessaloniki Airport briefly evacuated following warning

[06] ND criticism over tax policy

[07] Athens on pipeline project

[08] Gr-Tr com't for Evros basin

[09] 6-mo. T-bill issue on Tue.

[10] Stocks ease lower on Fri.

[01] Frontex patrols begin along Evros River

The Rabit border guards have already begun patrols alongside Greek forces and will be under the command of a Greek officer, while their operations will also be (ANA-MPA) coordinated by Greek authorities. Patrols will cover some 12.5 kilometres of the Greek-Turkish land border on the Evros (Maritsa) River.

A total of 175 Rabit guards from 24 countries have been pledged to assist Greece, of which 155 from 16 countries had arrived in Evros on Thursday night. (ANA-MPA)

In addition to providing extra man power, they will assist efforts to intercept illegal migrants using K-9 units, thermal-imaging cameras, powerful binoculars, high-tech tracking systems, helicopters and vehicles. (ANA-MPA).

Caption: Members of a Rabit Border Intervention Team K-9 unit on Friday, Nov. 5, 2010. ANA-MPA / S BARBAROUSIS

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[02] Malmstrom refers to deal with Turkey over illegal migrants

Noting that the EU had been negotiating for some time for an agreement with Turkey on migrant re-admission, she said that "very few points" remained to be settled for an agreement to be reached.

"It is an issue that we have discussed with the Greek side and is something that will make the situation much easier for Greece," she added.

Malmstrom had earlier visited the region in order to inspect a Rapid Border Intervention Teams (RaBIT) force deployed along a sensitive region of the border by the EU's external border control agency Frontex. The Commissioner was accompanied Greek Citizen's Protection Minister Christos Papoutsis, French Immigration Minister Eric Besson and Frontex chief Ilkka Laitinen. (ANA-MPA)

After a briefing on the operations plan of the mixed Greek and Rabit patrols now policing the border, followed by a visit to a Greek migrant reception camp in Evros, Malmstrom and the other officials held a press conference and thanked the various EU member-states that contributed guards and equipment to the Frontex force.

The Commissioner noted that Greece was "under extraordinary pressure" from the flow of illegal migrants and that this problem concerned the whole of Europe. She referred to the overcrowded conditions at the migrant facility she had visited and noted that Greece and the local community were experiencing an "unusual" situation in terms of illegal migration. (ANA-MPA)

The Commissioner stressed that the EU was in consultation with the Greek side and helping to promote actions that will improve conditions of control and reception of migrants, as well as a series of related issues, such as asylum procedures.

Papoutsis expressed the Greek government's satisfaction with the EU's immediate response to Greece's request for help, stressing that the phenomenon was not just local but concerned all of Europe.

"These are not just the borders of Greece, they are the borders of Europe," he pointed out.

The Greek minister, while noting that Greece and the EU were sympathetic to the plight of illegal migrants, also emphasised the existence of organised rings "trafficking in human hope" and the need to "guarantee EU cohesion and solidarity".

Referring to an upcoming meeting of EU justice and interior ministers on Monday, Papoutsis said that Greece was willing to discuss "terms and conditions of a long-term European cooperation" that would include strict regulations and a stable framework concerning asylum rules in the EU but would at the same time seek a review of the Dublin II regulation in order to resolve the problems this had created.

Under Dublin II, migrants apprehended anywhere in the EU are returned to the country from which they first crossed into the EU border.

He stressed that Greece is looking for cooperation with the Turkish side and hoping for the fastest possible conclusions to negotiations on a migrant readmission agreement between the EU and Turkey.

Besson also noted the poor conditions at the migrant reception centre he had visited in Evros, saying that these were indicative of the situation caused by large migration flows to Greece.

"We have to discuss long-term solutions on Monday in Brussels. Europe must find solutions," the French minister stressed. (ANA-MPA)

The Rabit border guards have already begun patrols alongside Greek forces and will be under the command of a Greek officer, their operations coordinated by Greek authorities. Their patrols will cover some 12.5 kilometres of the Greek-Turkish land border that were previously only guarded by the military and not patrolled by border police.

A total of 175 Rabit guards from 24 countries have been pledged to assist Greece, of which 155 from 16 countries had arrived in Evros on Thursday night. In addition to providing extra man power, they will assist efforts to intercept illegal migrants using specially trained dogs, thermal-imaging cameras, powerful binoculars, high-tech tracking systems, helicopters and vehicles.

They will also assist in tracing the identity and nationality of illegal migrants lacking papers and help improve migrant management, since every one of the countries participating has different experiences of illegal migration in relation to the distribution of nationalities of its illegal migrants.

Their presence in Greece is a temporary measure, with the mission lasting two months until the end of the year.

(ANA-MPA)

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[03] Greek bank deposits down in Sept.

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[04] Greek bond market closing report

The yield spread between the 10-year Greek and German benchmark bonds jumped to 909 basis points in the Greek electronic secondary bond market, from 888 basis points on Thursday, with the Greek bond yielding 11.50 pct and the German Bund 2.41 pct. Turnover in the market totaled 81 million euros, of which 22 million euros were buy orders and the remaining 59 million were sell orders. The 10-year benchmark bond was the most heavily traded security with a turnover of 12 million euros.

In interbank markets, interest rates moved higher. The 12-month rate was 1.54 pct, the six-month rate was 1.273 pct, the three-month rate 1.050 pct and the one-month rate 0.85 pct.

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[05] Thessaloniki Airport briefly evacuated following warning

The airport was cordoned-off and bomb experts with K-9 units searched the grounds.

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[06] ND criticism over tax policy

ND spokesman Panos Panagiotopoulos said many of the notices sent to taxpayers include errors, causing widespread confusion. "This is yet another example of how little respect the government has for the people".

He also said the ruling PASOK party befooled the Greek people before last year's general elections and imposed the memorandum, while now "the PM blackmails with snap elections hurting the country's prestige in international markets."

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[07] Athens on pipeline project

Referring to cooperation prospects, Droutsas stressed that there are "many sectors that allow for bilateral cooperation, aside from the military-technical cooperation," pointing out that "energy plans such as, the Burgas-Alexandroupolis and the South Stream pipeline projects, are of major importance for Greece."

He underlined that "the Burgas-Alexandroupolis project plan has Greece's full support" and "we are doing everything possible in order for it to materialise."

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[08] Gr-Tr com't for Evros basin

The meeting of the Greek and Turkish delegations was held in the Turkish capital as a follow-up to the joint statement of cooperation signed in Athens between the Greek environment minister and Turkey's forestry minister.

Based on the joint text adopted, the 12-member committee (six members from each side) will promote cooperation on issues of viable development, protection and water management, as well as, on the management of flooding in the Evros basin, in compliance (ANA-MPA) with the principles defined in relevant EU Directives.

The committee will meet twice a year in the presence of experts if necessary and will have the authority to set up working groups to focus on specific issues.

Bulgaria's participation, particularly in flood management, was acknowledged as necessary. Greece will undertake an initiative to promote the tripartite cooperation within the framework of the Joint Declaration signed by Greece and Bulgaria in Sofia last July. (ANA-MPA)

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[09] 6-mo. T-bill issue on Tue.

The T-bill issue will have a maturity date of May 13, 2011, while the settlement date was set for November 12.

The auction will be held with competitive bids by primary dealers in the Greek electronic secondary bond market, while the finance ministry will also accept non-competitive bids. (ANA-MPA)

The finance ministry will not pay any commission. (ANA-MPA)

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[10] Stocks ease lower on Fri.

Turnover was 112.169 million euros. The Big Cap index rose 0.61 pct, the Mid Cap index fell 0.61 pct and the Small Cap index eased 0.58 pct. ATEbank (7.69 pct), Viohalco (4.27 pct) and Hellenic Postbank (2.50 pct) were top gainers among blue chip stocks, while Alpha Bank (0.88 pct) and Cyprus Bank (0.60 pct) were top losers.

The Food (1.97 pct) and Industrial Products (1.80 pct) sectors scored gains, while Insurance (2.97 pct) and Technology (1.85 pct) suffered the heaviest percentage losses of the day.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 98 to 58 with another 54 issues unchanged. Klonatex (20 pct), Tegopoulos (18.52 pct) and Ideal (9.30 pct) were top gainers, while Altec (14.29 pct), Euroline (13.56 pct) and Alapis (10.78 pct) were top losers.

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