Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 07-10-15

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

CONTENTS

[01] Transfer of antiquities from old to new Acropolis Museum begins

[02] Protest over plans to knock down listed buildings near Acropolis

[03] PM Karamanlis confers with FinMin, Employment minister on social insurance reforms dialogue

[04] FM: The time has come to resolve FYROM name issue

[05] PASOK leadership campaign in full swing

[06] PASOK leader on current situation in party

[07] Skandalidis in Preveza, Giannena

[08] Opinion polls indicate Papandreou lead over Venizelos in PASOK leadership race

[09] FinMin interview in Sunday newspaper

[10] Grevena to be Greece's first 'organic' prefecture

[11] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

[12] Archbishop released from Miami hospital

[13] Prosecutor finds no cause to charge former Supreme Court president

[14] Greek envoy honours Hungarian fire-fighters

[15] Seminar calls for urgent measures to save Lake Koroneia

[16] Cyprus President and British MP Villiers discuss Cyprus question

[17] Nikiforos manoeuvre completed successfully Politics

[01] Transfer of antiquities from old to new Acropolis Museum begins

The sculpture, one of the heaviest exhibits to be transferred from the small outdated facility to the new Museum some 400 metres away on Makrygianni street, depicts a procession in an animal sacrifice, was packed in a specially-designed metal container that was successfully conveyed by the three cranes to its final destination in the Parthenon Hall.

The entire transfer operation of the bulkiest and heaviest exhibits is due to take three months, and will be filmed, on behalf of the New Acropolis Museum Construction Organisation (OANMA) by acclaimed director Pantelis Voulgaris and his crew.

Observing the operation on site were culture minister Michalis Liapis, the new Museum's New York-based Swiss-born architect Bernard Tschumi, members of the Committee for the Return of the Parthenon Marbles, and the ambassadors to Greece of the other 24 EU member states, including British ambassador Simon Gass, who later attended a reception at the New Museum's restaurant hosted by Liapis and the museum's president.

In a symbolic gesture, Liapis signed the first bill of transport and delivery protocol, calling the commencment of the operation a "historic event with ecumenical radiance". He explained that the new, ultra-modern museum protects, ensures and preserves the antiquities, and brings back to the forefront the demand for the restoration of all the Parthenon Marbles, 'an ecumenical demand corresponding to that of peace and human rights".

The first transfer took place under good weather conditions, given that such transfers will not take place when wind velocity exceeds five beaufort, while the porous statues will not be transferred when humidity is high.

The operation commenced at 9:28 a.m. and was completed by 10:45.

The specially-designed containers that will be carrying the artifacts are made of metal, with wooden crates inside covered with foam rubber to protect them from damage. Six such containers will be used in total in the crane relay to transport a total of 154 sculptures from the old to the new Museum, including the Caryatids, kouros (yong man) and kore (young woman) statues found on the Acropolis, as well as some smaller artifacts.

The total 246 sculptures that will be transferred to the New Museum weigh in at 113 tons, with the cost of transfer estimated at 1.6 million euro.

The three-crane system was selected after a study was carried out on ways to transfer the artifacts. The largest of the cranes has a height of 54 metres, with a 60-metre jib.

[02] Protest over plans to knock down listed buildings near Acropolis

According to the group, the move is strictly commercial since it is not needed to give an unobstructed view from the galleries but only from the ...museum restaurant. They stressed that two valuable and beautiful old buildings are being sacrificed not because they truly obstruct something but purely for the sake of profit.

Dozens of passers-by signed the protest, which notes that the architectural study for the new Museum had not envisaged knocking down the two buildings and that the culture ministry had arranged for the removal of their listed status and their demolition through "borderline decisions" of the appropriate bodies and amid an outcry from the scientific community in Greece and abroad, including the World Architectural Council, the Historic Picasso Museum and the Architects' Association in Greece, among others.

[03] PM Karamanlis confers with FinMin, Employment minister on social insurance reforms dialogue

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Magginas described as a "positive development" the social partners' (trade unions and employer federations) acceptance of the government's invitation to take part in the dialogue.

He said the discussion focused on various topics aimed at better organisation of the dialogue.

Asked to comment on press reports that the reform in the social insurance sector will be modest and that decisions taken will enter into force as of 2017, affecting working people who were in 50 age bracket today, Magginas said that "the government has nothing to say on this" and "when the time comes, everything will be made public".

Alogoskoufis made no comments after the meeting.

[04] FM: The time has come to resolve FYROM name issue

Bakoyannis endorsed a composite name, stressing that "Republic of Macedonia" cannot stand. The solution, she said, must be "mutually acceptable" and "along the ratinale of a distinct name" with a geographical determination.

In the event that Skopje persisted with its initial position, Greece was prepared to use its right of veto on the neighbouring country's accession to NATO, because "good neighbourhood and the resolution of the problems is a prerequisite for participation in an alliance".

For a mutually acceptable solution to be found, she explained, neitheir Skopje nor Athens can insist on the "starting point". In response to a relevant question, she added that, at this time, there was no issue of convening the Council of Political Party leaders under the President of the Republic for a relative decision.

Bakoyannis further stressed that she expected the support of the main opposition PASOK party, too, on the issue of a composite name, and opined that the Greek political world was mature, with a sense of duty and responsibility, noting that she has garnered "exceptionally positive" impressions from her contacts to date with the representatives of the political parties regarding foreign policy matters.

[05] PASOK leadership campaign in full swing

PASOK leader George Papandreou, in his first public party appearance after the September 16 general elections that plunged the party into crisis after its defeat and the re-election of the New Democracy (ND) party, called for a "new beginning" for his Panhellenic Socialist Movement "which the Greek society also wants".

Addressing a lunch in Haidari hosted at the initiative of mayors and prefects backing Papandreou in the leadership race, which was attended by some 30 mayors and 140 local government officials from the Attica prefecture, the PASOK leader thanked them for their support for that new beginning.

"We have ahead of us much to change, first of all a political system that manipulates the political forces and local government".

He said that the new party profile he has proposed will have "the forces for us to head to victory", and criticised the party's course to date, speaking of "large, serious changes that we did not dare make but must dare to make".

"I know that there are interests that do not want us to make changes. I know that the clientelle relations are a canker that did not allow us to make changes. It is these perceptions that we are fighting and want to break," Papandreou said.

Papandreou's main opponent for the party leadership, MP and former minister Evangelos Venizelos, said that PASOK needed "a different type of political leader", addressing an event in Argos on Sunday during a tour of Argolida prefecture.

He said it was necessary to make use of all the cadres capable of representing the party's positions everywhere: in parliament, in the media, with the people. A new PASOK that was genuinely democratic and renewed in its actions, was necessary.

The party will choose what it wants for the country. The quandary is a historical one, Venizelos said, adding that in order to see who expresses PASOK, the climate of consensus and political culture must be preserved. "The procedure is not introvert, it is necessary for the party to enter society. PASOK exists due to the people, to whom we must give a substantive content of hope and prospect for the entire Greek people," he said.

In an interview appearing in the Sunday edition of Eleftheros Typos newspaper, Venizelos said that he wanted to act as "the first among equals" when elected to the PASOK presidency, adding that his target was to ensure the collectivity and democratic operation of the party.

Asked what stance PASOK should take on the proposed Constitutional revision, Venizelos said that after November 12 (the day after the party leadership elections), a discussion must be made on whether abstention meant "abstention only from the voting (in parliament) or also from the debates".

He further said that he considered early general elections a possibility, while on the change of the electoral law he called it "toying with the institutions". PASOK, he concluded, must be prepared at all times, as required by the role of main opposition party and the nature of a large leadership party struggling for the people and the country.

The third candidate, MP and former minister Costas Skandalidis, expressed his optimism that he would be one of the candidates in a second round of voting for the PASOK leadership, in an interview appearing in the Sunday edition of To Vima newspaper.

Asked about the "morning after" the internal party elections, Skandalidis stressed that it was everyone's duty to respect the outcome of the vote and surround the new party leader, regardless of who won, with confidence.

Skandalidis opined that, after PASOK's defeat in the national elections, the party's Political Council should have tendered its resignation, although, as things have developed, that would have been an "act of demogogy".

Regarding Papandreou's accusations that some quarters in the party were undermining him, Skandalidis said he considered it incomprehensible to believe that there existed party cadres who were consciously undermining the party's leadership in order to lead it to defeat.

[06] PASOK leader on current situation in party

Papandreou spoke of an equal and frank relationship with the mass media and the business interests, adding that "I never had any dealings with them. Perhaps this is why we are in this situation today. Perhaps this is why certain quarters would have preferred that I resign" from the party leadership.

The PASOK leader insisted that there is an effort to undermine himself and his party, defining 'undermine' as "saying one thing in the party organs and something else on television", "someone letting the others wage the battle for victory while he plans on capitalising on defeat", "speaking of platform or policy ambiguity while spearheading policy differentiations that do not respect the unanimity of the party organs and the majority of the policy decisions", and "not expressing one's view on something one considers a mistake in the belief that this mistake could be in one's own interests".

Papandreou further insinuated that there were right-wing diversions in PASOK, stressing that "in reality, we are waging a dual-fronted struggle against a right-wing government and a right-wing perception on our own role as the main opposition party today, and the role of government tomorrow".

Replying to questions, Papandreou referred to 'a different PASOK' which would be a "force of responsibility and change" and which would be "close to the citizen and not deal with petty interests and posts". He said that the fundamental goal of the changes he expects to make in PASOK upon re-election to its leadership in the internal party elections of November 11 were re-establishment of the party, as well as consolidating the autonomy of the political system.

He said that a "new proclamation" and a new "contract with the people" were necessary, but also a "new model of governance".

Asked to comment on the lead he held over the two other contenders for the party leadership in recent opinion polls, he attributed this lead to the fact that the citizens "perceive that the issues we are called to solve, as PASOK, are not personal, but political and strategic ones", and described as a "big mistake" on the part of his "opponents" that "they want to pass a message that policy is a personal affair".

Papandreou further said that the crisis in PASOK was a "crisis of the entire political system", adding that "we will open up roads that will liberate the political parties from their dependencies".

PASOK, he continued, "will remain united so long as its unity is the means and precondition for the sweeping majority of the citizens to express themselves through it".

Asked if he would remain in PASOK in the event he was defeated in the party leadership election, Papandreou said that "I will remain true to the mandate that will be given to me by the party's members and friends, who on November 11 will decide on the future of all of us".

To a question on the fronts being opened up by the New Democracy (ND) government, Papandreou noted that "the government is obliged to remember always that it is "a government of a marginal majority and social minority". He said the government must also apologise to the Greek people "for the destruction it is leaving behind in its passage".

Papandreou added that he does not want to resemble prime minister and ND leader Costas Karamanlis, but, rather, to convince the people of how different, efficient and liberating for society" he himself is.

[07] Skandalidis in Preveza, Giannena

He said both these elements had been missing, not just since George Papandreou took over the party's leadership but since 1992-1993, when the party should have followed the direction set out by its founder Andreas Papandreou regarding the 'new Left'.

Skandalidis also stressed that he did not fear any fragmentation of PASOK but further reduction of its support among voters.

[08] Opinion polls indicate Papandreou lead over Venizelos in PASOK leadership race

In an opinion poll conducted by RASS polling company on behalf of To Paron weekly newspaper, Papandreou posted a 34 point lead over Venizelos with respect to intent of vote among PASOK members and registered friends who will be voting in the November 11 election, while he posted a 12 point lead over Venizelos among the total electorate (according to the respondents).

Papandreou also posted large leads in the poll to questions regarding whom the respondents had more confidence in for the post of PASOK leader, on who can put PASOK on a governmental orbit, on autonomy from economic interests, on who can change PASOK, and on whom the respondents anticipated would win the internal party election.

In the event that a new leader did not emerge in the first round of vote among the three candidates -- Papandreou, Venizelos and MP and former minister Costas Skandalidis -- 65.6 percent of the respondents said they would vote for Papandreou in a face-off with Venizelos (with 30.4 percent saying they would vote for Venizelos), while 80.5 percent said they would vote for Papandreou in a face-off with Skandalidis (with 17.6 percent saying they would vote for Skandalidis).

The majority of respondents, both PASOK voters and friends as well as the overall electoral body, believe that PASOK will remain united, while 63 percent of the PASOK voters and friends and 46.4 percent of the general electorate believe that the party needs a "turn to the Left".

In a second opinion poll, conducted by the Public Issue polling company and the results of which appeared in the Sunday edition of Kathimerini newspaper, Papandreou received an 18 percentage lead, with 50 percent of the respondents in his favour, against 32 percent in favour of Venizelos.

In the same poll, Venizelos was considered more appropriate than Papandreou in facing off ruling New Democracy (ND) party leader and prime minister Costas Karamanlis among both the party voters/friends and the general electorate. Both categories, however, also considered that Papandreou would be the winner in the internal party showdown and will be re-elected PASOK president.

Financial News

[09] FinMin interview in Sunday newspaper

On the social insurance sector, Alogoskoufis said that the problem cannot be solved with a single reform. "One cannot say that the entirety of the social insurance problem can be tackled with only one reform," he said, adding that "there will be consecutive approaches by various governments".

In the first stage, he said, "we will tackle the easy and self-evident issues, and perhaps some of the more difficult problems", adding that "one does not expect that one government can tackle the total problems".

The minister also said that the solution given for the bank employees could serve as a pilot for salary-earners who are not subject to the IKA (state Social Insurance Foundation) terms.

[10] Grevena to be Greece's first 'organic' prefecture

Already, 15 percent of the arrable land in Grevena was producing organic produce, making it the top such producer in Greece, in which the average was 2 percent, Folias said, noting that Grevena was also among the top "organic" producers at European level, too.

"The wager to render Grevena the greenest prefecture in Greece will definitely be won," Folias said, and called on all the local residents and leaders to help achieve that goal.

In recent years, he continued, a total of 428 projects with an overall budget of 605 million euro were "unfolding" in Grevena, laying the groundwork for "achieving much more in the wider area".

He said that, under the development ministry's Operational Programme "Competitiveness", 44 projects budgeted at 14.5 million euro were underway in Grevena in the sectors of tourism, commerce, processing-manufacturing and personnel training, with 250 business concerns receiving subsidies for investment plans estimated at more than 100 million euro.

Referring to the 100 million euro development plan for Northern and Central Pindos, he said the project was proceeding at a rapid pace and in a spirit of cooperation and solidairyt along four axes, which concern improvement of the fundamental infrastructures and quality of life, strengthening of the productive environment, projection and utilisation of the natural and cultural heritage, and upgrading the human dynamic.

Folias explained that the government endorsed "entrepreneurship with a social face and partnership responsibility", noting that among the top priorities was investment in organic farming and stockbreeding. He also noted that the government backed private initiatives, which he called "the DNA of the Greeks".

[11] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

U.S. dollar 1.428

Pound sterling 0.704

Danish kroner 7.510

Swedish kroner 9.187

Japanese yen 167.84

Swiss franc 1.693

Norwegian kroner 7.710

Cyprus pound 0.588

Canadian dollar 1.397

Australian dollar 1.584

General News

[12] Archbishop released from Miami hospital

The Archbishop's release from hospital came a few days after a liver transplant was aborted mid-operation after surgeons found that the patient's cancer had spread to the abdominal cavity.

Upon leaving the hospital, Christodoulos said that he felt well, and thanked all the people for their support.

He said that he was recovering from a 'second adventure' following the surgery, noting that the operation had not been successful, and that time was needed for the injuries to heal. He said he was entering the "third stage", in which his attending doctors of prescribed a treatment regimen.

Asked if he was ready to return to Greece, Christodoulos stressed that he fervently wanted to return, "but necessity is keeping me here".

Questioned if he continued to have confidence in noted surgeon Andreas Tzakis, the Archbishop replied: "Certainly. Mr. Tzakis is an eminent professional, who has provided the necessary explanations to the Greek people".

Asked whether he would remain for treatment in the US or return to Greece, Christodoulos said that "we are in a big medical centre of international repute here in Miami, and it would not be good for me to leave and search elsewhere for a solution to the problem".

He said that in a few days' time, when more information was available, it would be decided whether the treatment to be followed would take place in the US or in Greece.

Earlier, the Archbishop spoke by phone with prime minister Costas Karamanlis, who called to wish Christodoulos a speedy recovery.

[13] Prosecutor finds no cause to charge former Supreme Court president

Official complaints against the former supreme court president had been filed by a group of contract workers, a lawyer and a representative of the group "Citizens' Initiative" who felt that Kedikoglou had acted in a way that was prejudicial for their case when he allowed absent members of the Supreme Court Justices Council to vote by phone regarding their case.

They claimed that Kedikoglou was guilty of false affirmation to a criminal degree, breach of duty and concealing reasons for recusion.

All three claims were judged unfounded by Grozos, who said that allowing supreme court justices to vote by telephone was an established practice that had also been used prior to Kedikoglou assuming office, so there was no reason to suspect Kedikoglou considered his decision contrary to existing laws and regulations.

In addition, the telephone votes could not affected the result so that the decision was of no consequence in terms of the final outcome, nor did the Supreme Court decision affirm which judges had been present and which absent during the vote.

[14] Greek envoy honours Hungarian fire-fighters

Greece's Ambassador to Hungary Dimitrios Kypreos presented over the weekend honourary diplomas and plaques to Hungarian fire-fighters who contributed in extinguishing wildfires that devastated southern Greece last August.

At the ceremony, which took place at the ambassador's residence in Budapest, Kypreos praised the "heroic action" by the Hungarian fire-fighters terming it a "token of the two countries' close and warm cooperation on a government and peoples level, as well as an example of cooperation and solidarity within the European Union."

[15] Seminar calls for urgent measures to save Lake Koroneia

He called for putting an end to unrestrained pollution by industry, limiting the pumping of water from the lake and making use of the funds available to carry out works to clean up the lake's waters.

Cyprus Affairs

[16] Cyprus President and British MP Villiers discuss Cyprus question

British MP Theresa Villiers was received Saturday by Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos with whom he discussed prospects for a Cyprus settlement.

A press release issued by Villier's office said that speaking after the meeting, the British MP, who is in Cyprus to attend the Morphou anti-occupation rally said: "I was concerned to hear of the stalling of the Gambari process by the Talat administration but pleased to hear of the hard work being done by the President and his government in pressing for progress to be made."

On July 8, 2006, President Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat agreed, during a meeting in Nicosia in the presence of UN official Ibrahim Gambari, to begin a process of bicommunal discussions on issues that affect the day-to-day life of the people and concurrently those that concern substantive issues, both contributing to a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem.

Villiers said she had a wide ranging discussion with Papadopoulos over nearly an hour, covering a range of very important issues for Cyprus and for Cypriots in her Chipping Barnet constituency.

"We also had the opportunity to discuss the continuing failure of Turkey to comply with the commitments it made to the EU to open up access for Cyprus shipping and aircraft to Turkish ports and airspace. I believe that it is scandalous that Ankara still refuses to comply with the promises it has made," she underlined.

She noted that during her meeting with the president she reaffirmed her support for Cyprus and pledged to continue the campaign for a unified island.

"My meeting with the President, along with the other events I am attending during my visit to Cyprus, have shown me yet again the huge importance of finding a solution and ending the division of Cyprus which is so tragic for the people who were driven from their homes by the 1974 invasion," she concluded.

[17] Nikiforos manoeuvre completed successfully

Cyprus National Guard remains a modern, strong, flexible and deterrent force, Cyprus Defence Minister Christodoulos Pashiardes said Saturday, after watching the last and main phase of "Nikiforos" military manoeuvre, held October 9-14.

Pashiardes noted that the success of the manoeuvre showed once again the high level of fighting and operational effectiveness of the National Guard, "which was and remains a modern, strong, flexible and deterrent force."

On his part National Guard Commander, Lieutenant General Constantinos Bisbikas said he was proud to be at the leadership of this force and wished freedom for Cyprus.

House President Demetris Christofias said that National Guard is a flexible and deterrent force, which will continue to have its own role until we reach a just, viable and functional settlement of the Cyprus question.

He stressed that if Turkey has the slightest sensitivity it should withdraw at the least half of the occupying forces in Cyprus and noted that instead of doing so it continues to be armed and to threaten, because, this force is invasive and expansionary.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory.

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