Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 12-07-09

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

CONTENTS

[01] SYRIZA not a threat to euro, but to markets and banking lobby

[02] Papariga: Demand for Memorandum abolition objective

[03] Public Order minister: High number of foreign nat'ls involved in serious crime

[04] The Monday edition of Athens' dailies

[05] Heat wave throughout the week

[06] Athens Stock Exchange opening: Decline

[01] SYRIZA not a threat to euro, but to markets and banking lobby

In a reply directly to new Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras, he charged that he was now a minister and not the head of a NGO responsible for the sell-off of public property. amna

He also warned that his party would "stop this crime, which in the upcoming period means default. SYRIZA is not a threat to the euro; SYRIZA is a threat to the markets and the banking lobby," he stressed.

[02] Papariga: Demand for Memorandum abolition objective

"We do not call this government a memorandum government, because it will continue the policies of previous governments, in fact, with even more law and order. Mr. (Antonis) Samaras spoke of law and order but he did not mean crime in society but law and order vis-a-vis the workers."

Additionally, she said the vast majority of the Greek people on June 17 voted for remaining in the European Union, no matter what, but for a renegotiation of the Memorandum, "however, after taking a step back, in the wake of terrifying dilemmas launched by ND and SYRIZA, and afterwards, by the unmasked reversal by SYRIZA."amna

She added that "negotiation, even if some elements are softened, such as (work) contracts and renewed collective labour agreements, cannot prevent citizens' degradation," while adding that the demand for abolition of the Memorandum is objective and fair.

[03] Public Order minister: High number of foreign nat'ls involved in serious crime

"Greece's democracy cannot accept either the questioning or whatever attempt to substitute Greece's security services," he said, while at the same time referring to what he called data showing "an unbelievable high number of foreign nationals involved in serious crime."

Dendias says it was a major provocation for the country to deal with illegal immigration, especially in terms of procedures for repatriation of illegal migrants. "We are not at all satisfied with Turkey, towards which Greece has submitted 112,000 requests for repatriation (of third country nationals) but of which only 11,000 have been accepted, and of those, only 3,000 illegal migrants have been returned," he charged, referring to bureaucratic red-tape in the neighbouring country on the specific matter.

He also said the government must transfer personnel to the asylum bureau and for the proper operation of migrant reception centres. Moreover, he said the government must negotiate for changes in the Dublin II treaty, described as a major problem for the country -- given that illegal migrants cannot be shared equally by EU member-states but remain congregated in Greece, after mostly illegally entering from neighbouring Turkey.amna

According to Dendias, figures for the last two-year period show that the verified participation of foreign nationals in homicide attempts and armed robberies exceeds 51 percent. "This is an unbelievably high number of foreign nationals participating in serious crime." He further charged that an increase in violent crime increasingly violating the most private life of citizens, namely, their homes and work.amna

"We have 55,000 police officers. We do not need more but better policing, via a new organisational framework," he said, while noting, nevertheless, that police officers are paid very little.

[04] The Monday edition of Athens' dailies

The three-party coalition government's policy statement and the vote of confidence it received dominated the headlines in Athens' newspapers on Monday.

ADESMEFTOS TYPOS: "Denationalisations, investments, growth".

AVRIANI: "Spurt forwards with wave of privatisations and re-start of major works".

ELEFTHERI ORA: "Terror puzzle: State, para-state, secret services and fanatic Islamists".

ELEFTHEROS TYPOS: "First the measures, then the renegotiation".

ELLADA: "Education the first victim of the co-governance".

ESTIA: "Everything will be determined in the first two months".

ETHNOS: "Heat wave for all the special salary scales".

IMERISSIA: "Tax upsets - Everything changing on incomes, real estate".

NAFTEMPORIKI: "Vote of confidence and climate of clashes".

TA NEA: "The special salary scales on the table".

VRADYNI: "Work for 80,000 unemployed".

[05] Heat wave throughout the week

The National Meteorology Service (EMY) on Monday issued an extraordinary announcement informing the public that the high temperatures will reach 39C in the northern parts of the country, namely Macedonia, Epirus and Thrace, while the forecast for central Greece, the Peloponnese and Evia island is even higher and on some occasions the thermometer will reach 41C.amna

The islands will suffer less from the heat, however, with temperatures touching 36C, which is a nevertheless high for the region.amna

EMY forecasts for Athens 39C on Tuesday and on Wednesday the temperatures may escalate to 40C.

[06] Athens Stock Exchange opening: Decline

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks was down 0.60 percent, while the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index was down 0.55 percent.

Individual sector indices were moving mostly downward, with the biggest gains in Telecoms, up 2.17 percent and Travel and Recreation, up 1.40 percent.

The heaviest losses were in Food and Beverages, down 0.93 percent and Banks, down 0.58 percent.

Of the stocks traded, 15 were up, 18 were down, and 8 were unchanged.

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article