Compact version |
|
Wednesday, 4 December 2024 | ||
|
Athens News Agency: News in English, 11-07-17Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] Clinton expresses strong support for Greece(ANA-MPA) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday expressed the U.S. government's strong support for the efforts of the Greek people and the Greek government to overcome the debt crisis, during a press conference following her meeting with Greek Foreign Minister Stavros Lambrinidis.Their meeting was the first in a round of scheduled meetings between Clinton and Greece's leadership during her visit to Athens, where she arrived late on Saturday from neighbouring Turkey after attending a meeting of the Contact Group for Libya. Clinton underlined that the government of Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou had faced tough decisions and expressed Washington's support for his determination to carry out reforms. Doing nothing would have far worse consequences than the current difficulties, she added, expressing her faith in the strength of the Greek people. Lambrinidis stressed that the Greece of today bore no relation to the Greece of the past and he emphasised the need for European solidarity in order to overcome the crisis. (ANA-MPA) During one-on-one talks lasting half an hour, followed by a meeting between Greek and U.S. delegations, Clinton and Lambrinidis discussed the economic crisis and issues of foreign policy, focusing mainly on the situation in Libya, the Middle East, the western Balkans, the Cyprus issue and Greece's relations with Turkey. After her meeting with Lambrinidis, the U.S. Secretary of State attended a working dinner with the prime minister at his offices. Arriving for the dinner, she conveyed her family's warm regards to Papandreou and, on a lighter note in response to questions posed by a U.S. journalist, expressed her excitement that the U.S. women's soccer team will be playing in the World Cup final against Japan on Sunday night. She said that U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden and her own daughter Chelsea would be in Frankfurt to watch the game and support the U.S. team, while she would be watching the game from Athens. Clinton is also scheduled to hold meetings with Greek President Karolos Papoulias and Greece's finance minister Evangelos Venizelos. A meeting between Clinton and Greece's main opposition New Democracy party leader Antonis Samaras is scheduled to take place on Monday. (ANA-MPA) © ANA-MPA SA. Intellectual rights and copyright belong to the ANA-MPA S.A. Reproduction of ANA-MPA content by visitors of this website is strictly forbidden. More details on the subscriber's page of ANA-MPA | Subscription request form [02] PES initiative for debt crisis(ANA-MPA) The socialist leaders of the Eurozone on Saturday discussed and adopted an alternative plan for a recovery from the debt crisis, ahead of Thursday's emergency Eurozone meeting, asserting that European governments had to "reassert their primacy over financial markets" or they would be placing their sovereignty at risk.A key proposal of their plan included a European 'stability' agency to reprofile the debt of Eurozone member states and help get them back on track when they were at risk of losing stability, as well as the issue of Eurobonds as a tool in this effort. The plan was worked out during a phone conference on Saturday between Eurozone leaders belonging to the Party of European Socialists, including Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, and was later released as a joint statement entitled "A Eurozone based on Democratically accountable economic policy". A PES press release said that this outlined both the practical steps necessary for recovery and "an increasing level of frustration at the Conservative majority's inability to formulate an effective response". Other participants in the meeting including French opposition party leader Martine Aubry, European Parliament S&D Group leader Martin Schulz, Dutch labour party leader Job Cohen, new Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja and new Irish Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore, as well as PES President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen. Papandreou welcomed the PES initiative stating that: "the European Union has great economic potential but under conservative leadership there is a lack of political will to turn it into policies". (ANA-MPA) More details on the subscriber's page of ANA-MPA | Subscription request form [03] Taxis on strike on MondayTaxi cab owners have decided to hold a 48-hour strike starting on Monday, in opposition to government attempts to fully liberalise their profession and lift all restrictions to the number of taxi licences issued.The strike will begin at 5:00 a.m. on Monday and last until 5:00 a.m. on Wednesday. Taxi cab owners have also warned that they are prepared to go on an indefinite strike if the government does not back down. © ANA-MPA SA. Intellectual rights and copyright belong to the ANA-MPA S.A. Reproduction of ANA-MPA content by visitors of this website is strictly forbidden. More details on the subscriber's page of ANA-MPA | Subscription request form Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |