Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 14-09-30

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

CONTENTS

[01] Kouneva interview: 'I don't feel like a politician'

[01] Kouneva interview: 'I don't feel like a politician'

"Now, I simply have the opportunity to work on a different level of society. I am a unionist," she said referring to the new page in her life after the health problems she had following a December 2008 acid attack against her.

"I am in the European Parliament, because this enables me to decide for my own life, to work and strive," she said.

"When I started working as a cleaner, I realized that the legislation needed to be regulated; and I have always said this was should be done. I knew however this could be done only by the EU and not on a local level…Cleaners should get in touch with their European colleagues and form a union at some point in the future…We should work methodically and regularly and this will bring benefits in the future," Kouvena said.

She also explained what the "Left" means for her: "I have always been leftist, in thought and in actions; because the Left cares about the poor, the people with health problems. I believe that if the society tries to improve the lives of people of the weaker strata, the culture in our country will be strengthened. If the poor and sick people do not have good living standards, we are in no position to speak of culture. Culture exists only when all people have good living standards."

She also thanked the 175,000 citizens that voted for her in the European Parliament elections: "I thank them all. I was really happy. I felt they had realized I had a goal and they gave me the opportunity to move forward and put my ideas in practice. They also made me be more careful, because I am not in the hospital now; I have to fight for my life and society."

The full interview is available for subscribers at the ANA-MPA web TV.

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