Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-03-31

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

CONTENTS

[01] Social state cannot be 'sacrificed' in the name of the crisis, Pavlopoulos and ILO chief agree

[02] Parliamentary inquiry into health scandals will help 'clean up' the system, Health minister tells ANA

[03] Need to create culture of 'compromise and consensus' in the Western Balkans, Kotzias says

[04] Thirteen indicted for defence contracts signed when Papantoniou was minister

[05] Civil servants, policeman, lawyer among 25 arrested in sham marriage scheme

[06] City of Athens invites people to visit five public buildings for Open House

[01] Social state cannot be 'sacrificed' in the name of the crisis, Pavlopoulos and ILO chief agree

Pavlopoulos highlighted the role of the ILO and Ryder himself in defending human rights and thanked him for his visit to Athens at a crucial time for Greece and the European Union, urging him to continue his important work in defence of the social acquis in the world and Europe.

Pointing out that the social state was "born" in Europe, the Greek president noted that the European Union cannot exist without the social state, which was not just part of Europe's legal culture but also a part of European culture generally.

"Without its social face, Europe would lose its humanity and, of course, thus lose its identity," he added, noting that Ryder's help would be exceptionally valuable for both Greece and Europe.

Ryder promised that the ILO will support the Greek people at this difficult time and stressed that the social acquis must not be sacrificed as a way of overcoming the crisis. Greece's labour market had suffered greatly in the last seven to eight years, he added, and it was important to find ways to combine social and economic dictates in order to continue to have social justice and cohesion.

[02] Parliamentary inquiry into health scandals will help 'clean up' the system, Health minister tells ANA

The inquiry will help shed light on all the distortions and dysfunctions of the health system but also identify those responsible and clean up a political system that has become identified with the "party" in the health sector, Xanthos said.

"Our aim is not to dwell on the past but the legislative protection and reform of a system that everyone knows acted without impunity and generated lack of transparency, artificial demand, waste, corruption and an exploitation of patients," Xanthos said.

He noted that Greece's health sector had structural problems relating to transparency, corruption and wasteful spending that the inquiry hoped to bring to light, as well as any political or even criminal responsibility of individuals that may come to light. During the period on which the inquiry will focus, there had been dozens of scandals that not only caused extensive financial damage but also "undermined the sense of public health and a welfare state," he added.

[03] Need to create culture of 'compromise and consensus' in the Western Balkans, Kotzias says

The ministers discussed about fairer burden sharing in the Alliance, NATO's response to terrorism, its united approach to Russia and the situation in the Western Balkans.

"On our side, we spoke of the need to build stability structures in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East. We discussed the existing instability particularly in the western Balkans and stressed that it is necessary for all sides to be taught about what I call the culture of compromise and consensus," he told journalists.

"We also discussed the Ukrainian problem and for the first time the new American foreign minister was present in NATO," he added.

Asked about the recovery of funds belonging to the foreign ministry's Directorate General of International Development Cooperation-Hellenic Aid, Kotzias said this is part of the ministry's efforts.

"We have located an amount close to 14 million euros. Yesterday and today we recovered small amounts. I think the ministry is showing it is a productive ministry which fights against corruption and all kinds of effort to waste government money," he said.

[04] Thirteen indicted for defence contracts signed when Papantoniou was minister

The 13 going before a criminal appeals court will include the businessman Thomas Liakounakos, who was an agent for the German defence firm Krauss Maffei Wegman (KMW), and a number of former defence ministry officials, including its former general secretary for financial planning and defence investments, Spyros Travlos.

The charges against them include breach of trust, aggravated by laws relating to instances of public-sector embezzlement, morally instigating the above acts and legalising income from illegal activity.

The case concerns an offset benefits contract signed on the same day as the main contract for the supply of the tanks, in March 2003. The purchase price agreed was 1.7 billion euros, one of the largest sums ever agreed for arms contracts by the Greek state. An additional 300 million euros was added to this amount for the supply of 180 second-hand tanks, with no provision for an offset-benefits agreement for their refurbishment and modernisation.

Based on reports and questions tabled in Parliament, the above main contract was also seen as "scandalous" because it made no provision for the supply of shells for the specific tanks.

Under the attached offset benefits contract, KMW undertook to either provide offset benefits worth 250 pct of the contractual price of the main contract or to invite other acceptable parties to do so. According to the charges, this secondary contract was not implemented according to the terms laid out, or only partially implemented, resulting in significant financial losses for the Greek state.

Both for the main Leopard tanks contract and for the secondary offset benefits contract is included in the evidence sent to a Parliametary Preliminary Investigation Committee examining whether the former minister Papantoniou should also stand trial.

[05] Civil servants, policeman, lawyer among 25 arrested in sham marriage scheme

The people arrested, aged between 27- 65, include six foreign nationals (three men and three women), eighteen Greeks (eight men and ten women) and one prisoner. Three of them are immigration officials, two are notaries, one is a lawyer and one is a policeman.

"The members of the criminal gang legalized foreigners by working methodically and with distinct, predefined roles, while earning large amounts of money whichever ranged from 6,000-7,000 euros per case," the director of the police's security division Christos Papazafiris said during a press conference in Athens.

He said police confiscated 213,000 euros in cash during 26 raids in houses and offices and discovered 150 sham civil unions which correspond to an equal number of fake work permits, while another 210 cases of false paternity claims are being examined.

The suspects are accused of various crimes including forming and participating in a criminal organization, making false testimonies, pandering and several violations of the immigration laws.

[06] City of Athens invites people to visit five public buildings for Open House

The buildings are the City Hall, Technopolis, the Municipal Library, the Sustainable Kindergarten at Keramikos and the Municipal Market of Kipseli.

Open House is one of the most important global institutions for the promotion of architecture. Every year for one weekend, private and public buildings open their gates to everyone for free, allow people to explore and learn about the architecture of their city. The fourth Open House Athens is scheduled for the weekend April 1-2.

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