Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-03-17

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

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

CONTENTS

[01] PM Tsipras meets President Hollande and Chancellor Merkel in Brussels

[02] The mayors of Barcelona, Lesvos and Lambedusa sign a cooperation agreement on refugees

[01] PM Tsipras meets President Hollande and Chancellor Merkel in Brussels

The prime minister's programme is as follows:

Thursday, March 17

12.15 Trilateral meeting with French President Hollande, German Chancellor Merkel

14.00-15.30 Participation in the preparatory meeting of PES leaders (as an observer)

15.40-15.45 Arrival to the European Council

16.00-16.30 Exchange of views with the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz

16.45-19:30 European Council Workshop

19.45-22:00 Working Lunch of Heads of State and EU Member State governments

Friday, March 18, 2016

09:15-09:45 Arrival to the European Council

10:00 Working breakfast labor of the heads of state and EU Member State governments and Turkish Prime Minister

[02] The mayors of Barcelona, Lesvos and Lambedusa sign a cooperation agreement on refugees

"Our aim is to promote Lesvos through an international municipal campaign to strengthen and support tourism," Galinos stated to ANA-MPA. The agreement was signed by the mayors of the three cities - Galinos (Mytilene), Ada Colau (Barcelona) and Giuseppina Nicolini (Lambedusa).

The agreement reflects the start of a new strategic cooperation, based on three sectors - political, environmental/tourist, and cultural - with the view to exchanging good practices and providing assistance to each other.

According to the Spanish website El Público, who cited Colau's speech, this agreement marks the willingness of the three municipalities to build a common front "against the passivity of the EU and its member states."

"We can no longer expect anything from the governments, thus the cities by ourselves we have to be motivated", said Colau, adding that "this coalition permits the cooperation among cities who jettison this inhumane Europe."

The mayor of the Catalan metropolis also revealed that although the municipality of the city is ready to accept and help refugees from Syria, the central government of Madrid turns a blind eye to the respective calls and keeps not fulfilling the agreed quotas of refugees relocations.

Colau also asked the leaders of Europe not to stipulate the "illegal and immoral" agreement between EU and Turkey.

From her part, the mayor of Lambedusa Nicolini stressed that the Mediterranean should be transformed to a "place of contact between populations and not to a border against them" and underlined the willingness, expressed by the three mayors, to "construe a new vision, completely different in regard to the one EU promotes."

Nicolini has also stretched out a helping hand to Lesvos, acknowledging that the Greek island has to assume the largest burden of the migrants flows: "The mayors of the Greek islands will not be alone to this endeavour, like Lambedusa was back in 2011", said Nicolini, stating also the efforts the municipality has undertaken to the restoration of tourism and normality on the island.

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