Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 15-02-07

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

CONTENTS

[01] Crucial Eurogroup meeting on Greece on Feb. 11

[02] Cyprus to support Greek positions at Eurogroup, EU summit

[03] Defence minister visits flood-stricken areas in Evros

[04] Cold snap and storms to hit the country from Sunday

[01] Crucial Eurogroup meeting on Greece on Feb. 11

Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem confirmed the meeting through his Twitter account, saying it will start at 18:30 (Greek time). He reported that there was no breakthrough on the issues at the Eurogroup Working Group on Friday but said there was a chance that this will happen, noting that this would be in the best interests of all sides, including Greece, and "we must continue to work for this".

A EU leaders summit is scheduled to take place on the following day, February 12.

[02] Cyprus to support Greek positions at Eurogroup, EU summit

In statements to the Cypriot state radio station RIK, government spokesman Nikos Christodoulides said that Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades will underline the need for a shift toward policies to create growth in Europe. "On this position there was a common understanding during the contacts made by the Prime Minister of Greece Alexis Tsipras in Cyprus," he said.

The two sides also agreed that every country must move forward with its own reform programme and that Athens was now asking for time in order to implement this, he added.

In Cyprus, work has been done internally and we consider that 2015 will be a year of growth, he said. "At the same time, we hope that the conditions will be created for us to soon return to the markets."

Cypriot Finance Minister Harris Georgiades also promised to support Greece's positions at the Eurogroup meeting next Wednesday. He also reported signs of improvement in Cyprus' economy, presented during an informal review by the troika in Cyprus, which he said confirmed that the country was on a path of 'correction' and exit from the crisis.

[03] Defence minister visits flood-stricken areas in Evros

According to the latest reports, the situation along the river appears to be stabilising and the water level seemed to have declined slightly. During the night, local authorities did not finally have to go through with a plan to use the army to blow up a dam near Poros in order to divert the water to the plains of Ferres and protect the village. They warned, however, that the plan may still go ahead if Poros is threatened with flooding, though this will flood 8,000 hectares of farm land in Ferres. Problems will arise, they said, if more volumes of water are released upstream in Bulgaria or if there is more rain.

In statements to Skai television while travelling to Evros to coordinate efforts to contain flood damage, the minister also announced a decision to reform the armed forces MOMA engineering and construction units, which in the past had assisted in building Greek infrastructure, such as roads and bridges.

Referring to Greece's negotiations with its creditors, the head of the Independent Greeks (ANEL) party that is the junior partner in Greece's coalition government said that Greece now had a government that is prepared to negotiate with dignity and "not on its knees".

[04] Cold snap and storms to hit the country from Sunday

Based on current forecasts, the bad weather will continue in the east and south until next Tuesday.

Civil protection mechanisms are currently on stand-by for flooding in Evros, where settlements are considered at risk of flooding due to the large volume of water in the Evros River. Defence Minister Panos Kammenos and the Hellenic National Defence General Staff chief Gen. Mikhail Kostarakos visited the area on Saturday to help coordinate efforts by the army to assist local communities.

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