Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-02-07

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

CONTENTS

[01] Tsipras: Greece can be a 'conduit' between Iran, EU

[02] Farmers at Nikaia meeting decide to take the fight to Athens

[01] Tsipras: Greece can be a 'conduit' between Iran, EU

Tsipras, who has arrived at the head of a large and high-ranking government delegation, outlined a framework of what he called strategic cooperation with Iran, during his visit to the Pardis Technology Park (PTP), where he noted that the two countries could collaborate in the areas of technology and innovation, energy, trade, culture and shipping.

Receiving the Greek prime minister, PTP President Mahdi Safarinia said that Tsipras was "the most independent leader in Europe" and explained that the PTP's membership included 30 hi-tech companies employing more than 3,000 scientists. He said the Greek premier's visit could be the start of cooperation between the two countries in technology, noting that Iran currently ranked seventh in the world in the development of nanotechnology.

Safarinia invited Greek companies involved in research and technology to participate in the major innovation and technology exhibition taking place in Iran in May.

Tsipras replied by referring to the historic bonds between the two countries and noting that the Greek government had made a choice to develop ties of a strategic nature with Iran. He also highlighted that Greece had significant human resources in the technology sector.

"Our two countries are joined by the important bonds of two strong cultures but we can also be joined in the future through cooperation in a series of areas, such as new technologies," he said.

Tsipras also noted that Greece has an independent foreign policy and, in spite of the crisis, was spreading its wings to cooperate with important countries in the region, such as Iran.

The Greek prime minister, who departed for Tehran at the head of a large government delegation on Saturday, is to visit the Iranian capital for two days on Sunday and Monday. He is expected to have a series of significant meetings and discussions on bilateral and regional issues, being the first western leader to visit Iran after an agreement was reached on Iran's nuclear programme.

The Greek government sees the visit as a "strategic choice" that will lay the foundations for expanding relations with Iran and also highlight Greece's positive role in the region. Officials in both Athens and Tehran have expressed an intention to give a powerful boost to bilateral relations and to act as factors for stability in a troubled region of the world.

Government sources noted that Greece was proceeding to rekindle its relations with Iran, after reaffirming the strategic cooperation of Greece and Cyprus with both Israel and Egypt, and establishing relations with "a regional player having considerable influence, who is returning onto the global scene after having normalised relations with the west."

The focus during bilateral contacts is expected to centre on energy and renewable energy sources, construction, water management, tourism (with a view to attracting Iranian tourists to visit Greece), culture, finance, food and the pharmaceuticals industry.

Apart from the prime minister, the Greek delegation also includes Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias, Economy, Development and Tourism Minister George Stathakis, Environment and Energy Minister Panos Skourletis, Deputy Foreign Minister Dimitris Mardas and the foreign ministry's General Secretary for International Economic Relations and Developmental Cooperation Giorgos Tsipras.

Starting the visit at the historic city of Isfahan, the Greek delegation will then have a series of meetings in the Iranian capital on Monday, including ones with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini and Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, leading to the signature of several agreements.

[02] Farmers at Nikaia meeting decide to take the fight to Athens

During the coming week, meanwhile, they will step up mobilisations by extending the length of road blocks in coordination with each other. They also decided not to take part in a meeting called by Rural Development and Foods Minister Vangelis Apostolou in Parliament, before the appropriate Parliament committee. The same stance on the Tuesday meeting in Parliament will also be adopted by the farmers that did not take part in the Nikaia meeting, they said.

The farmers also agreed on a series of demands, including a tax-free allowance of 12,000 euros a year, that the government withdraw proposed legislation on tax and pension reform, that it abolish tax measures recently taken for the farming sector and 'standard of living' wealth indicators. Other demands include tax-free diesel and abolition of VAT on farming equipment, settlement of overdue loans to avoid home foreclosure and the abolition of a new tax on wine and the Greek spirit 'tsipouro' made from grapes.

The farmers gathered at Tempi, who did not take part in the Nikaia meeting, went ahead with plans to again close the national highway at Tempi for 24 hours after 18:00 on Sunday, with police directing traffic to alternative routes.

Also to close from 17:00 to 20:30 is the Larisa-Agias road at Gerakari.

Meanwhile, the movement of traffic continued to be seriously hampered in the two main roads in Messinia, in the southern Peloponnese, where farmers at Asprohoma closed the road for 12 hours from noon until midnight, and those at Kalonero blocked traffic from 15:00 until 19:00.

Long delays and tailbacks also awaited drivers on the Tripoli-Argos national road, which farmers blocked shortly after 13:00, and at the Isthmus, where farmers also blocked the old national road at Kalamaki at 15:00 and stopped all traffic heading to the Peloponnese and western Greece until 22:00.

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