Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 12-07-25

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

CONTENTS

[01] US assistant treasury secretary Charles Collyns in Athens

[02] Venizelos: Greece cannot be blackmailed

[03] PM: Government will proceed with changes, reforms

[04] Lt-Gen Constantine Ginis new Chief of Army General Staff

[05] FinMin meets with BoG governor, bank employees' union delegation

[01] US assistant treasury secretary Charles Collyns in Athens

Collyns met with finance minister Yannis Stournaras on Wednesday, and with deputy finance minister George Mavraganis onT uesday evening for talks on matters related to the policy coordination of the taxation system applied by the government, so as to render more efficient the collection of state revenues and to deal with tax evasion.

[02] Venizelos: Greece cannot be blackmailed

He also underlined that major eurozone countries, like Spain and Italy, are in the centre of the crisis and maintained that the decision of the latest European Council has "lost its momentum very quickly and is being challenged".

Venizelos said that "since 2008 we are observing decisions being weakened as a result of the stance adopted by certain member-states and mostly as a result of the markets' reaction."

He repeated the "two national duties of historical importance" namely, that the country will have to be protected from its own national crisis and be shielded against the next phases of the European crisis.

The leader of PASOK, one of the three political parties in the coalition government, stressed that "the momentum of the recent national elections will have to be preserved and our partners should not be allowed to forget the situation the Greek society and political system are in." He added that "we will have to enter a discussion in good faith as to what needs to be done in terms of the macroeconomic situation," adding that the recession recorded is much deeper than anticipated and cannot be ignored.

Venizelos stressed that the talk on Greece's exit from the eurozone that dominates in foreign mass media will have to end, stressing that it undermines the country's efforts.

He said that Greece cannot be blackmailed, stressing that it enters discussions within the framework of European institutions, the bailout programme and the loan agreement and demands that all procedures be observed as regards the programme's assessment and revision.

Referring to the need to change the country's image, the leader of PASOK underlined the importance of structural changes and privatizations.

He said that his party supports the government, stressing that it will serve its four-year term and lashed out at the opposition saying that it seeks to bring about a dead end situation, invests in it and tries to provoke it.

[03] PM: Government will proceed with changes, reforms

He noted with satisfaction that this was the first time in the last 38 years (since the restoration of democracy in Greece) that there is a programmatic convergence of substance among three political parties, with a four-year horizon and what he called a 'bold' programme on major structural changes to the economy, denationalisations, reform of the political system, citizens' safety and dealing with illegal immigration.

Samaras said that an entire historic period of hesitation, fixations and insistence on outdated stereotypes has come to an end, and put forward two targets for the political system: regaining the people's confidence "without which no major reform task can be completed" and restoring the country's credibility abroad "which is a necessary condition for regaining competitiveness and fighting the recession".

He opined that unemployment could fall to 10 percent in the next four years, and spoke of a step-by-step renegotiation that would be constant, criticising main opposition SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras over his demand for immediate renegotiation, saying that the government must first show that it is going ahead with the changes in order to meet the targets and then go ahead with the changes in agreement with is partners.

"Those who have now 'discovered' renegotiation and take us to task for not doing it earlier want the country break with its lenders, from the worst possible position," he charged, noting that the 'new approach' applied by his government is "aggressive", that it can do better than the targets on which it has committed "because we want to end earlier the process of asking for borrowed money every three months".

Samaras pledged to stamp out bureaucracy, said order was being put in the public utilities and organisations (DEKO), bogus pensions were being hunted down, while Community funds earmarked for Greece under the ESPA were being unblocked.

If Greece meets its targets, then no one can deny it the improvements it asks, the premier continued, and reiterated his pledge to deal with illegal immigration and to declare an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Samaras stressed that the people have shown maturity, and now it is the political system's turn to do likewise, adding that the goal is to put a brake on recession through growth and to generate new jobs.

[04] Lt-Gen Constantine Ginis new Chief of Army General Staff

Ginis, up to now commander of the First Army Corps and Army General Inspector, and the second in the line of hierarchy in the Army, replaces Lt.-Gen Constantine Ziazias, who tendered his resignation as GES chief earlier on Wednesday.

[05] FinMin meets with BoG governor, bank employees' union delegation

Earlier, Stournaras met with the presidium of the union of bank employees (OTOE).

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