Athens News Agency: News in English, 11-01-10

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

CONTENTS

[01] FM: No secret diplomacy

[02] Keratea residents protesting planned landfill clash with police

[03] Frontex: Massive influx of illegals

[04] ASE opening: Decline

[01] FM: No secret diplomacy

Foreign minister Dimitris Droutsas, replying to questions on a private TV station on Monday morning, strongly denied that Papandreou and Erdogan discussed the "so-called issue of co-exploitation in the Aegean" during the Greek PM's visit to Erzurum to address the annual conference of Turkish ambassadors abroad, by special invitation. (ANA-MPA)

He also denied that the PASOK government was engaging in secret diplomacy, stressing that "no Greek government exists that does not advance the interests of Greece and its long-standing goals", and appealed for "a stop to the hypocrisy that the given government at the time is the traitor and the given opposition at the time is the ultra-patriot". (ANA-MPA)

"Stop this hypocrisy. For Greece's sake," Droutsas appealed. (ANA-MPA)

Droutsas, who accompanied Papandreou to Erzurum, said that the two prime ministers mainly discussed the problem of illegal migration, on which "agreement was reached for close cooperation", as well as bilateral, regional and international affairs and also the economic crisis. (ANA-MPA)

More details on the subscriber's page of APE-MPE | Subscription request form

[02] Keratea residents protesting planned landfill clash with police

The violence erupted when hundreds of protesting residents attacked the MAT riot police forces on Lavriou Avenue, where locals have set up a roadblock.

Riot police used teargas to disperse the protestors, while homemade firebombs and rocks were thrown against police.

Calm was restored shortly after midnight.

More details on the subscriber's page of APE-MPE | Subscription request form

[03] Frontex: Massive influx of illegals

(ANA-MPA) -- A report by the increasingly influential Frontex -- the European agency responsible for the management of operational cooperation of EU member-states' external borders -- refers to an "unprecedented" situation in terms of illegal migration in Greece's land borders with Turkey.

According to a front-page article appearing in the Sunday edition of "Kathimerini", which quotes the Frontex report, roughly 31,000 illegal immigrants, mostly Afghans and Algerians, were detected between January and September 2010 attempting to enter Greece from Turkey.

The number of illegal migrants, practically all from Third World countries in North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, could be much larger, the Frontex report is quoted as stating.

The report cites one of the greatest influxes of illegal immigrants in the Union's history, in part basing this assessment on the sea patrols Frontex began in the eastern Aegean, which supposedly forced migrant smugglers to use the land route.

Just as importantly, Turkey's role as a transit country for illegal migrants is underlined, while noting that the massive scope of the problem makes it impossible for Greek authorities to deal with it alone.

On the news front, another body was discovered on Sunday in a field some four kilometres southeast of a guard tower on the Evros River, in the Peplos district of Evros prefecture. (ANA-MPA)

According to initial reports, the body is of an African man aged 20 to 25. The cause of death was listed as exposure.

Finally, on Saturday a mixed Greek and Frontex patrol intercepted a group of four illegal immigrants that had just rowed across the Evros River from Turkish territory aboard an inflatable dinghy.

One of two alleged migrant smugglers was also arrested. The other fled back into Turkish territory. (ANA-MPA)

Caption: ANA-MPA file photo

More details on the subscriber's page of APE-MPE | Subscription request form

[04] ASE opening: Decline

Individual sector indices were moving mostly downward, with the biggest gains Travel & Recreation, up 0.88 percent, and Public Utilities, up 0.39 percent.

The biggest losses were in Banks, down 2.61 percent, and Health, down 2.24 percent.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks was down 1.44 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index was down 0.21 percent, and the FTSE/ASE-80 small cap index was down 0.55 percent.

Of the stocks traded, 11 were up, 36 were down, and 22 were unchanged.

More details on the subscriber's page of APE-MPE | Subscription request form

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article