Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 15-02-27

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

CONTENTS

[01] Cabinet to convene on Friday at 19:30

[02] FM Kotzias has phone contact with his Ukrainian counterpart Klimkin

[03] The agreement with the lenders needs to be ratified by the parliament, ND spokesman says

[04] There will soon be a legislative settlement of bad loans issue, Economy Min. says

[05] In two months there will be no revenue shortfall, Economy Min Stathakis says

[01] Cabinet to convene on Friday at 19:30

There will a live broadcast of Prime Minister's opening speech

[02] FM Kotzias has phone contact with his Ukrainian counterpart Klimkin

Kotzias once again raised the issue of the security of persons of Greek origin in Ukraine, asking that Klimkin show maximum interest in their situation and protection.

Klimkin assured Kotzias that the Ukrainian government is taking all of the necessary measures for the protection and security of Ukrainian citizens of Greek origin in Mariupol.

[03] The agreement with the lenders needs to be ratified by the parliament, ND spokesman says

"This is a decision that includes the loan agreement and the memorandum," Karagounis noted. He explained it should be voted in Parliament since all previous changes were approved by the House – in December 2014 and in December 2012 – and if the same thing does not happen this time, it could raise questions and have an impact abroad.

"It should be voted in Parliament as it is voted by other European parliaments that have legal provisions for this; this cannot be legitimized by them and not by the Greek parliament, especially when it is an issue that primarily interests and concerns Greece," and "because it concerns commitments of the Greek State, the Bank of Greece (BoG) and the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF)," he said.

"Its approval cannot be limited to the signing of the relevant minister and the two governors (of the BoG and the HFSF) without the Greek parliament having approved it on behalf of the Greek state," he added.

He also reminded that in the past SYRIZA criticized the previous government when it passed urgent decisions with legislative acts, despite the fact that those acts came to the parliament for ratification within 40 days.

"Now, in its first critical decision as government, SYRIZA cannot say this will not pass through the Parliament. This exceeds political hypocrisy and is a simple mockery," he stressed. He added that SYRIZA "may be afraid that many of his deputies will not vote for a decision for which it celebrated."

"It should not be worried. We will vote for it. It is now clear that the agreement is worse than ours, since we were preparing the full exit from the memorandum; but since things have come to this point, we will not let the country fall on the rocks," he said.

"We will not let them make a fool out of our democracy; or degrade the Greek parliament. Other European parliaments could not possibly vote on the extension of the Greek aid and the same time the Greek Parliament being deprived of this right, because SYRIZA is afraid of its deputies," he concluded.

[04] There will soon be a legislative settlement of bad loans issue, Economy Min. says

The document, dated February 25, was submitted following a question by Independent Greeks' (ANEL) deputy Nikos Nikolopoulos on the non-performing loans.

[05] In two months there will be no revenue shortfall, Economy Min Stathakis says

"In two months, there will be no revenue shortfall and the fiscal gap will be covered in a smooth way," Stathakis said in a message posted on Twitter adding that the fiscal gap does not reach 5.0-7.0 billion euros and it is controllable.

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