Athens News Agency: News in English, 05-10-09

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

CONTENTS

[01] Presidents of Greece, Moldova lay foundation for further development of bilateral relations

[01] Presidents of Greece, Moldova lay foundation for further development of bilateral relations

"We examined the relations between our two countries, which have historic roots, and ascertained that today they are cordial, with great prospects for development, Greece's president Karolos Papoulias said after a meeting of delegations from the two countries.

"The historic bonds are a very good foundation for cooperation also in the sectors of the economy, commerce, culture and tourism," said Papoulias, who adopted a proposal by Voronin for highlighting in Moldova the historic course of the Philliki Etairia (Friendly Society).

The scholars Anthimos Gazis, Grigoris Konstantas and Daniil Philippidis, born in Milies in the 1750's when the area of Pelion was starting to flourish due to the development of trade and the handicraft industry and increased business relations in Europe, traveled extensively and studied in Europe, becoming familiar with the ideas of the Enlightenment and contributing to the intellectual and political enlightenment of Greece. The three were clerics, teachers, writers, translators, publishers, members of the Philiki Etairia revolutionary group against the Ottoman Turkish rule, and founders of the School of Milies, which became renowned for its high standard of teaching, offering a curriculum that included the applied sciences, and for its very extensive library. The School suffered severe damage and many gooks, maps and scientific instruments were lost during the uprising in Pelion. It was closed until Thessaly's liberation in 1881, and the building was subsequently destroyed in 1943 when the German occupation troops set fire to the village of Milies. The three scholars are considered among the most eminent personalities of the Greek Enlightenment.

Voronin, accompanied by foreign minister Andrei Stratan, stressed that "the historical events that united us are the spark for the consolidation of our relations, which today also must be further advanced, to the benefit of both peoples".

After a memorial service, the two Presidents visited the graves of Gazis, Konstantas and Philippidis, where a larnaca containing soil from Philippidis' grave in the Moldovan town of Balt was placed in his cenotaph at Milies.

The two Presidents further planted two symbolic plane trees.

"They will be watered by our friendship," Papoulias said, to which Voronin added "just as the plane trees planted by our common fellow country-man Philippidis, which still shed shade on our capital".

Papoulias and Voronin were later declared honourary residents of Milies by the town's Cultural Association, while the road that leads to the graves was renamed "Presidents Papoulias-Voronin Street".

"Common ideas and historical events united our peoples, and today it is important that we proceed side-by-side in the framework of the European Union," Voronin said.

Deputy interior minister Athanasios Nakos and Parliament vice-president George Sourlas spoke of the three scholars' contribution to education and the national uprising against Ottoman rule.

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