Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-03-21

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

CONTENTS

[01] Dijsselbloem sees 'political discussion' leading to agreement on Greece in April or May

[02] Greece, Israel sign joint Defence Cooperation Program for 2017

[03] Majority of Greeks see migrants as a social and economic threat, EKKE survey finds

[04] Transport ministry considering community service for serious road accident offenders

[01] Dijsselbloem sees 'political discussion' leading to agreement on Greece in April or May

Monday's Eurogroup had agreed that talks between Greek authorities and the institutions must be intensified, he said, with face-to-face meetings in Brussels in order to focus and agree on the main issues of the review that are still pending. Following this, he added, all the remaining pending issues must be finalised in a political discussion that will be held during the Eurogroup on April 7 or else the following Eurogroup in May.

Dijsselbloem said that the institutions are asking Greece to adopt a series of structural reforms in advance in order to make the country's economy more robust and friendlier to growth, as well as a series of "positive" measures in the case that fiscal targets are exceeded. He noted that labour law was a key part of the negotiations and the reforms in the sector must be in accordance with optimal European practices.

At another point in the discussion with MEPs, Dijsselbloem said it would be preferable to spend as little as possible of the 86 billion euros available to Greece under the third programme. He was replying to independent Greek MEP Notis Marias, who asked whether the unused capital might be used to recapitalise Greek social insurance funds and deal with non-performining loans.

"The aim must be to not use all the money; the more that is used, the more will pass through loans to Greece, increasing its already high public debt," he pointed out.

On the pensions front, Dijsselbloem said that an effort was underway since February to place less emphasis on austerity and more on cutting costs, with deep reforms for a more sustainable pension system. This must then be complemented by a better social welfare system that functioned in the right way," he added.

Regarding NPLs, the Eurogroup president noted the use of private capital to recapitalise Greek banks, while noting that he'd be the first to admit that Greece's economy had not yet recovered. The aim, he said, was to bring about recovery while implementing the programme with as few loans as possible.

[02] Greece, Israel sign joint Defence Cooperation Program for 2017

[03] Majority of Greeks see migrants as a social and economic threat, EKKE survey finds

Among those taking the survey, 65 pct said that migrants were bad for Greece's economy, 59 pct consider that migrants are taking their jobs and 59 pct that migrants' use of health and welfare services is greater than their contribution in terms of taxes.

The survey also revealed that Greeks place a high value on cultural homogeneity, with 63 pct considering that the country was a "worse place to live" as a result of migrants and 57 pct saying that Greece's cultural life has deteriorated because of them, rather than becoming enriched.

One third said the government must not be too generous in granting refugee status to applicants and 44.4 pct believe the government treats the migrants that arrived in Greece during the latest migration wave better than the local population, to a lesser or greater extent, while 29.2 pct say its treatment of migrants and locals is the same and 26.5 pct see it as much or a little bit worse.

Greeks are also very negatively disposed to Muslims, with four in 10 considering that Greece should not accept any Muslim migrants and another four in 10 saying their numbers should be greatly restricted. In a European-wide survey published by the British international think tank Chatham House last month, 58 pct of Greeks said that migration from Muslim countries should stop.

Analysing the results, EKKE researcher Angelos Tramountanis said that Greeks appear to see migration as a threat on two levels: on the level of the country's economic and social state and on the level of identity.

"We expected to have these results, chiefly because of the economic crisis, since from research and the bibliography it has been shown that when you have an economic crisis, unemployment and low wages this causes certain reflexes, which result in an increase of bad feelings against migrants," he said. Researchers were surprised by the intensity of the negative reaction shown by the results, however, since it revealed that migrants were seen as a threat on all levels, Tramountanis added.

The survey was part of the more wide-ranging MIGHEAL programme financed by the European Economic Area and conducted by the National Centre for Social Studies in collaboration with NTNU, the Norwegian University for Science and Technology. The MIGHEAL programme focuses on inequalities in the health sector among the migrant population and was presented in Athens last February.

It was conducted through interviews with 505 migrants and 827 Greeks aged 15 or above, living in major urban centres in Greece.

[04] Transport ministry considering community service for serious road accident offenders

Speaking at a one-day conference organized by the "Panos Mylonas" Institute for Road Safety, Mavraganis said the offender could be ordered to work at a hospital to see first-hand the results of reckless driving. "This way, the offender will realize what he has caused," he said, adding however that the top priority for lowering the number of road accidents is proper education and information.

The minister also announced the creation of an online platform called e-drive academy, as well as other educational programs.

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