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Sunday, 22 December 2024
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Athens News Agency: News in English, 05-08-29Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] Greek and Chinese defence ministers hold talks in BeijingThe will of the political leaderships of Greece and China for strengthening and supporting the bilateral relations in a broad spectrum of sectors, was reiterated by Greek National Defence Minister and his Chinese counterpart during a meeting they had in Beijing on Monday.The two defence ministers agreed that the United Nations constitutes the supreme forum for securing world peace and security. The Greek side briefed the Chinese side on the situation in Kosovo, the Balkans and on Greece's participation in peace missions under the auspices of the UN, while it thanked the Chinese government for its stance in the Cyprus issue, within the framework of the United Nations. The Chinese side referred to the problems with Japan and Taiwan, to the issue of the European Union embargo, for the lifting of which a decision of the "25" is pending following the adoption of the "Code of Conduct", as well as the joint military exercises with Russia. On the issue of the security of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the Greek side reiterated its willingness to offer its experience to the relevant Chinese authorities. On a bilateral level, prospects were examined for cooperation in the defence industry sector. It is recalled that between Greece and China there is a protocol of cooperation in the defence-technical sector. [02] PASOK criticises gov't over use of Olympic venues, facilitiesMain opposition PASOK on Monday sharply criticised the government over what it called the latter's inability to properly exploit and utilise Olympics-related venues and installations a year after the Athens 2004 Games ended.Among others, current PASOK state deputy and former Coalition of the Left leader Maria Damanakis accused the government of lacking any plan for exploiting the Olympic facilities. Ex-minister Andreas Loverdos, on his part, echoed PASOK president George Papandreou in calling for Premier Costas Karamanlis to give up his culture ministry portfolio. In a later reply, Alternate Culture Minister Fani Palli-Petralia charged that PASOK's pending "Black Paper" criticising the culture ministry has "developed into a poorly written novel, one that simply tries to replace a deficit in the main opposition's policy and ideology." [03] FM and SYN leader discuss Turkey's EU prospects, Cyprus issueForeign Minister Petros Molyviatis met with Coalition of the Left, Movements and Ecology (SYN) President Alekos Alavanos on Monday, two days before the Committee of Permanent Representatives convenes in Brussels to discuss Turkey's negotiation framework for European Union accession.After the meeting, Alavanos noted that for the first time, major countries are putting the pressure on Turkey, a situation "which we must capitalise on," he said. Alavanos also referred to "the opportunity we have to set a specific timeframe for resolving the Cyprus issue based on the changes to the [UN Secretary General Kofi] Annan plan that the Republic of Cyprus has requested and with the major involvement of the EU in order to find a genuine solution to the Cyprus issue, quickly." [04] Watchdog: Unleaded fuel hike adds 15 euros to monthly consumer budgetThe Greek Consumer Centre said on Monday that a rise in the price of unleaded petrol had added about 15 euros per month to household budgets in comparison with August last year.The price of unleaded gas is currently around 0.96 euro per litre, leading to a roughly 14.6 euro rise from the same month of 2004, the centre said in a statement. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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