Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-01-27

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

CONTENTS

[01] Decisions of Greek Justice are self-evidently binding, says PMs office

[02] 'Not helpful' to return to economic instability when Greece was on the verge of growth, Dombrovskis says

[03] ND's leader should adopt clear position on IMF demands, PM's office says

[04] Medical tourism is a golden opportunity for Greece

[01] Decisions of Greek Justice are self-evidently binding, says PMs office

"The Greek government immediately condemned unequivocally the coup attempt [in Turkey] and supported the democratically elected government, as well as the compliance with constitutional legality in our neighboring country," the office said.

"We stress today as we did then that those responsible for the coup are not welcome in our country. At any case, Greece respects the rule of law and the principle of the separation of powers is constitutionally guaranteed and undisputed – including all the international conventions that bind the country. Within Greece, the only authority responsible for the relevant judgments is the independent Greek Justice, whose decisions are self-evidently binding," it added.

[02] 'Not helpful' to return to economic instability when Greece was on the verge of growth, Dombrovskis says

Dombrovskis was replying to questions concerning Greece during a press conference held after the ECOFIN Council.

The Commissioner said that an agreement to complete the second review of the Greek programme is possible if all sides contribute constructively. All sides were working to ensure a successful conclusion of the second review, he added, while negotiations on structural reforms were underway.

He also pointed to the Greek economy's strong performance and higher-than-forecast revenues, with Greece meeting fiscal targets for 2015 and significantly surpassing them in 2016. For the current year, he said that Greece was on the right path and would meet a primary surplus target of 1.75 pct of GDP in 2017, while everything indicated that the country will probably meet the 3.5 pct of GDP target set for 2018.

[03] ND's leader should adopt clear position on IMF demands, PM's office says

"Once again Mr. Mitsotakis reveals his political nature. On the one hand his insistence on predicting doom and on the other hand his shameless willingness to implement even the most extreme, anti-social policies. Just as the IMF's extreme demands will remain on paper, so will Mr. Mitsotakis' little speeches, as a bad reminder of a bankrupt political system that refuses to accept its historic defeat," the announcement said.

Instead of once again betting on disaster and prevaricating, Mitsotakis should finally adopt a clear position, the announcement added, since ND's leader had himself stated that "the important thing is to find a solution."

According to the prime minister's office, an international-level confrontation between the IMF and the European institutions was underway with the Greek programme as its focus. In this confrontation, it added, Mitsotakis was joining ranks with the more extreme lenders to blame the Greek government "even though this has met, to the letter, both the programme targets and its commitments to the Greek people." It also noted that "while everyone in the Eurogroup has officially recognised the excellent course of economic indices and revenues, [Mitsotakis] comes to revive - helping who exactly? - the groundless scenarios about the country's exit from the Eurozone."

[04] Medical tourism is a golden opportunity for Greece

During the meeting, the participants discussed actions to be taken in the next period, both in Greece and abroad, to promote medical tourism as well as the certifications required for health centres.

"Medical tourism is a golden opportunity for Greece as it can be an important driving force for the development of the Greek economy. We have developed an important strategy to promote it that will be launched in the coming period. However, the Greek state should take advantage of this opportunity and make the necessary interventions," George Patoulis, president of the Medical Association of Athens, said.

They also referred to the conference to be held in Ithaca on May 27-28 with the participation of distinguished Greek ad foreign professionals.

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