Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 12-12-17

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

CONTENTS

[01] PM holds round of meetings with close aides to discuss strategy

[02] Finmin: Eurogroup decision 'only a first step'

[03] SYRIZA deputy attacked at Olympic Stadium, parties react

[04] Independent Greeks condemn SYRIZA MP attack

[05] SYRIZA's Tsipras: 'Each day we are better prepared'

[06] SYRIZA elects coordinating secretariat

[07] Deputy FM in Istanbul for Black Sea meeting

[08] PASOK leader attends meeting of socialist, democrat parties in Rome

[09] Defence minister tours Dodecanese military posts; PM telephones Kastellorizo, Ro commanders

[10] European Parliamentarians address Acheloos River conference

[11] EU information event held at Metsovo

[12] Week of strikes in health sector from Monday

[13] President Papoulias sends telegram of condolence to Obama for Newtown tragedy

[14] Foreign ministry message for tragedy in Connecticut

[15] Search continues for missing migrants shipwrecked off Lesvos

[16] Silent protest against rising tide of racism held in Athens

[17] Evros border fence complete, contractor announces

[18] Police catch Roma gang behind high-profile robberies

[19] New Hania prison opens for business

[20] Man electrocuted in attempt to steal PPC transformer

[21] Two arrested for selling drugs via Internet ads

[22] Super League results

[23] Rainy on Monday

[24] Athens' Sunday newspapers at a glance Politics

[01] PM holds round of meetings with close aides to discuss strategy

Sources said that the prime minister's top priority is to attract foreign investments and persuade companies already present in Greece to further expand their activities, so that there is an influx of foreign capital that will boost liquidity and reduce unemployment.

Toward this end, Samaras will receive representatives of 16 major multinationals on Monday morning to discuss ways in which they can further expand their activities in the country. The meeting will be attended by Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras, Development Minister Kostis Hatzidakis and Deputy Development Minister Notis Mitarakis.

On Tuesday, the premier will have a meeting with the leaders of the two parties supporting the coalition government, PASOK and Democratic Left, and on Wednesday he will be keynote speaker at the official opening of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation's representation at the Acropolis Museum.

[02] Finmin: Eurogroup decision 'only a first step'

"The [decision] puts an end to ongoing scenarios of a Greek default and the country's exit from the euro and creates the conditions for sustainable growth and higher employment. Of course what we achieved is very important but it is only a first step.....The road remains long and steep," Stournaras said.

The finance minister stressed that in order to ensure a final exit from the 'danger zone' of default and euro exit, Greece must now actively carry out a two-year fiscal adjustment programme calling for spending cuts of 10.5 billion euro and an extra 3.0 billion euro in revenues, as well as structural reforms to improve competitiveness.

"By next May we must table the 'heavy-duty' taxation plan that will tackle the long-term problems of tax administration, tax evasion and tax fairness and ensure its immediate implementation. The criticism I am subjected to all this time at the Eurogroup has to do with tax evasion in our country," Stournaras emphasised.

The finance minister said that the reform would "serve the basic principle that we all have an obligation to contribute to the country's salvation, according to our means," while pointing out that one in two of Greece's self-employed had declared annual incomes less than 5,000 euro in 2011, indicating that the tax burden was unfairly skewed against wage earners.

Regarding banks, Stournaras noted that the Eurogroup decision would ensure their recapitalisation and help make them viable on a permanent basis, improving the banking system's credibility and capital adequacy and gradually allowing banks to resume handing out loans to businesses.

He also emphasised the government's determination to speed up the rate of privatisations and attract foreign investments, noting that the main benefit from the privatisations would not be the revenue they generated to pay down debt but the effect of the resulting investments on the real economy.

Finally, the minister stressed that the country had reached its limits in terms of unemployment, especially among the young, and could not take any more.

"The percentages must be reversed in the coming period. The central goal of our policies is to increase employment," he said, adding that work was more than just a factor of production but about "people's lives, their hopes and aims".

Stournaras was addressing the 8th Panhellenic Health Conference on Management, Economics and Health Policy discussing the theme "Economy and health in crisis: Deadlocks and Excesses" that began in Athens last Thursday.

[03] SYRIZA deputy attacked at Olympic Stadium, parties react

SYRIZA charged that the deputy "received murderous blows to the head outside the premises of the Olympic Stadium during halftime of a soccer game by three persons, who as soon as they recognised him declared that they were members of Golden Dawn and told him 'We shall kill you now'."

The party demanded "the immediate arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators." Tolerance towards "the fascist organisation of Golden Dawn is leading mathematically to us mourning lives and abolishes democracy. The response must be immediate and decisive before it is too late," it added.

The government condemned the attack and said any kind of attack constitutes a threat and is unacceptable in a democracy. "Violence has no place in our political culture," government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou said.

In an announcement on Sunday, titled "We deny Stratoulis' (allegations)," Golden Dawn declared that it has nothing to do with the attack.

The announcement stressed that Golden Dawn was holding an open event in the Nikea section of Piraeus at the time.

"The petty politicians of the left who harbour violence and illegal countergatherings must stop badmouthing Golden Dawn," the announcement concluded.

PASOK condemned "unequivocally and categorically the attack of violence and terrorism of Golden Dawn members against SYRIZA deputy Dimitris Stratoulis". The party noted that it had undertaken specific initiatives to fight neo-nazism and social and racist violence by calling on all the parties of the constitutional "arc" to rally together.

The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) condemned the "fascist thug attack" sustained by SYRIZA deputy Dimitris Stratoulis.

"The people and youth must be more decisive in isolating the action and ideology of the fascist-like," the announcement concluded.

[04] Independent Greeks condemn SYRIZA MP attack

"Football fields are not churches: they are patrolled by hundreds of policemen, including riot police," parliamentary representative Terence Quick said. "For this reason, there is no justification for Greek police not to discover as soon as possible who the perpetrators of this criminal act are."

[05] SYRIZA's Tsipras: 'Each day we are better prepared'

"Each day that passes we are better prepared and more mature to take on the responsibility of the governance of the country," the head of SYRIZA's Parliamentary group said, adding that everything would be decided by next March.

"Either the people and the country will collapse or the coalition of collapse will leave," he said, predicting that 2013 would be the year when SYRIZA-EKM would be elected to power.

He went on to attack Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, saying that the Eurogroup's decision to release financial aid to Greece was "self-evident" but delayed by six months and would usher in the year of "the most brutal austerity". He also suggested that a debt buyback programme had missed its targets.

"People have realised that Samaras is not the 'Santa Claus' of growth, as he likes to present himself, but the average Greek family's Herod that imposes a tax penalty on children," he added.

Immediately after his speech to the Central Committee, Tsipras departed for an official visit to Brazil and Argentina at the head of a party delegation. The meeting began with the official formation of the Central Committee of 317 members and will continue with the election of a 37-member secretariat.

Gov't response

Responding to Tsipras' criticism, goverment spokesman Simos Kedikoglou said that the main opposition leader had given a "parting performance for the drachma lobby before departing to spend Christmas in Latin America".

"Turning white into black, he tried to discount the end of the scenarios of an exit from the euro. We understand his frustration," Kedikoglou said.

[06] SYRIZA elects coordinating secretariat

The remaining 36 members of the secretariat were elected during a meeting of SYRIZA-EKM's new Central Committee on Saturday.

[07] Deputy FM in Istanbul for Black Sea meeting

Deputy Foreign Minister Dimitris Kourkoulas attended the 27th Ministerial Session of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Pact in Istanbul, where Turkey wrapped up its presidency of the organisation.

The Greek deputy minister addressed the plenary session and attended a working luncheon hosted by the organisation's outgoing chairman, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. Following this, Kourkoulas also visited Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos.

[08] PASOK leader attends meeting of socialist, democrat parties in Rome

PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos, leader of the second-largest party in Greece's coalition government, on Saturday attended an international meeting for socialist and democrat parties organised here by Italy's Democratic Party.

Addressing the meeting, Venizelos stressed that the coordination of European socialists and democrats was of great importance, in light of upcoming elections in Italy and Germany.

"It is clearly very important for us European socialists to understand that we have a political and moral obligation to propose a way out of the crisis that takes into account fiscal discipline and the financial dimension but is primarily about the human dimension," he added.

[09] Defence minister tours Dodecanese military posts; PM telephones Kastellorizo, Ro commanders

The phone call came soon after Defence Minister Panos Panagiotopoulos' stayed on Kastellorizo overnight on Friday, as part of a tour of military units and outlying guardposts on the Dodecanese islands.

The prime minister asked the two officers to convey his warmest wishes to the troops serving under their command in the area.

Panagiotopoulos made it clear that the Greek armed forces, despite necessary cutbacks in spending, remained fully capable of guaranteeing the country's national security, sovereignty, independence and integrity under all circumstances.

During his tour, the defence minister visited Stroggyli and the guardpost at Ro, as well as attending a memorial service for the 'Lady of Ro' and laying a wreath on her tombstone.

In a visit to the island of Symi, Panagiotopoulos inspected the guard and met with the local metropolitan, while he also praised the operational capability and deterrent force of the troops on the island of Rhodes during his visit to that island.

Panagiotopoulos was accompanied on his tour by the head of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff General Mikhail Kostarakos and top military officers.

[10] European Parliamentarians address Acheloos River conference

The seminar, "Agricultural and Regional Policy of the European Union" focused on the development prospects of the Acheloos River basin and was organised by the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats group in the European Parliament, local townships and the Athens offices of the European Commission and Parliament.

"Europe supports you with the best and most effective use of all available and new cohesion tools," Schulz said, "with viable regional development and smart collaborative policies, with which we will face our common challenges together."

Joseph Daul, chair of the European People's Party group in the Parliament, also speaking via teleconferencing, said that "Europe has funds for the development of rural areas and the establishment of small and medium-sized enterprises and I hope that this entrepreneurial spirit revives in Greece so that development can too."

Attending the seminar were several representatives of other groups in the European Parliament, Eurodeputies, minister of Agriculture Athanasios Tsaftaris, officials from other ministries, regional officials and mayors.

[11] EU information event held at Metsovo

The event brought together regional media outlets, Greek Eurodeputies, Deputy Infrastructure Minister Stavros Kalogiannis and regional officials and was open to the public.

A key issue mentioned in dealing with the crisis is the support of and expansion of agriculture in the area, with targeted actions and promotion of large projects like the completion of highways. Minister Kalogiannis reported on the discussions he held with concessionaires in four road projects and said nothing had changed in the contracts except the date of construction.

PASOK Eurodeputy Spyros Danellis said development in Greece was unequivocally linked to supporting the agricultural sector with scientific knowledge and noted that the country's problem related to packaging and trade rather than production. Georgios Papastamkos, European Parliament vice president, criticised the lack of a national model on farming economy and called for a turn to regional models instead.

The second part of the forum was devoted to a seminar for regional mass media outlets, with the European Parliament office presenting ways it can assist journalists to present timely and correct information on EU decisions and actions.

[12] Week of strikes in health sector from Monday

Patients insured by the National Organisation for the Provision of Healthcare Services (EOPYY) will also have to continue forking out cash from their own pockets in order to buy medication, since pharmacists are refusing to extend EOPYY more credit and demand payment up front. Pharmacists intend to close pharmacies outright on Monday and Tuesday in order to press demands for a firm payment date for September prescriptions and a clearcut commitment concerning the payment of past debts.

As of Monday, EOPYY patients will additionally be forced to shell out for medical tests carried out at private clinics and laboratories normally covered by EOPYY, who are also refusing credit until overdue debts are settled.

Hospital doctors in Athens and Piraeus are planning to strike on Monday in protest against pay cuts and the inclusion of their social insurance fund TSAY in EOPYY and they will be joined by hospital cashiers' offices.

On Wednesday, hospitals throughout Greece will operate with a skeleton staff due to 24-hour strike called by the Athens-Piraeus Hospital Doctors' Union EINAP and the Panhellenic Federation of Public Hospital Staff POEDHN, who have decided to join in strike action declared by the civil servants' union federation ADEDY. Participation in ADEDY's strike has also been decided by the Panhellenic Medical Association in reaction to recently announced measures relating to hospital doctors and the public health system.

Thursday will see hospital interns abstaining from the morning shift and talks on unemployment among young doctors, while on Friday hospital doctors will convene to decide on further strike action.

[13] President Papoulias sends telegram of condolence to Obama for Newtown tragedy

"We are all shocked at what this inconceivable horror left in its wake," Papoulias wrote, expressing his deepest condolences to the families of the victims and Greece's solidarity and earnest interest "in the dialogue that you have already decided to begin in your country concerning the issue of gun ownership".

Papoulias also conveyed his hopes and prayers that this would be the last time the U.S. would have to mourn victims "of irrational and horrifying violence."

[14] Foreign ministry message for tragedy in Connecticut

Avramopoulos also expressed the Greek people's support for the American people at this difficult time and his condolences to the families of the victims of "this heinous crime".

General News

[15] Search continues for missing migrants shipwrecked off Lesvos

The discovery of one more body that washed up on the shore of Petalidi north of Mytilene on Sunday afternoon raised the confirmed death toll to 21.

Authorities had previously recovered 20 dead bodies of men between the ages of 20 and 45 years old, many of which washed up on the shore between Niselia beach and Kanoni beach in Thermi. No details about the latest victim of the tragedy that was washed ashore have yet been released.

A 20-year-old man had earlier been found alive in waters east of Thermi, who first alerted authorities to the shipwreck. The single survivor said he was from Myanmar and gave details concerning the other passengers on the boat, which had set sail from the Turkish shore and is believed to have capsized due to overloading. He is now being treated for hypothermic shock at Mytilene Hospital but his overall condition is considered good.

According to this sole survivor, there were 28 people on board the vessel, including a Turkish migrant-trafficker. Authorities have not yet been ascertained whether the trafficker was among those found dead or whether he survived the shipwreck and managed to return to his country by some means. Coast guard officials do not rule out the possibility that he may have been rescued by an accompanying vessel that abandoned the other castaways to their fate.

[16] Silent protest against rising tide of racism held in Athens

As people on festively decked-out Syntagma square went about their Christmas shopping, the marchers gathered outside Parliament shortly after 3:00 p.m. in what they called the 'great European battle for democracy'.

Among them were migrants, intellectuals, artists, members of anti-racist movements, MPs from the left-wing parties, members of the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece and hundreds of ordinary citizens.

"Hunger and need have neither nationality nor passports. We know there are specific political factions that are trying to blame all the country's problems on migrants. This is unacceptable, false and unfounded," Athens Mayor George Kaminis stressed as he joined the march.

The marchers reached Dionysiou Areopagitou street beneath the Acropolis shortly after 5:00 p.m. where the protest concluded.

The protest was proposed by the Paris-based 'European Grassroots Antiracist Movement' (EGAM) last Monday. It had the support of activists from 20 countries and was backed by scores of civil rights groups, anti-racist movements and some high-profile intellectuals, such as Nobel laureates Dario Fo and Bernard Kouchner, and French Nazi-hunter Serge Klarsfeld.

With Greece acting as a gateway into Europe for large numbers of migrants from African and Asian countries, the dramatic influx of foreigners has helped to whip up anti-migrant sentiment among ordinary Greeks and catapulted previously marginal far-right groups such as Golden Dawn, notorious for their attacks on migrants, to the forefront.

[17] Evros border fence complete, contractor announces

The fence spans a distance of 10,365 metres, all along the length of the land border between the Kastanea guard post and the Evros river, and is four metres high, so that it cannot be climbed without mechanical assistance.

Dagres noted that its construction used 6,000 square metres of concrete, 800 tonnes of steel, 20,700 metres of barbed wire fencing, 140,000 metres of razor wire and 210,000 metres of wire. He said that delays in the completion of the project were due to unfavourable weather conditions prevailing in the area during winter months and also delays in finalising the planning for its location, completed on May 3. Also, he added, work could not start until problems with an optic fibre network that had preceded its construction were corrected.

Work on the project finally began on May 5 and the final cost came to 3.16 million euro, which was the amount in the initial contract with no overruns.

[18] Police catch Roma gang behind high-profile robberies

The gang is suspected of carrying out a series of robberies throughout Greece, including one targeting two jewellery salesmen, and other individuals carrying large sums of money.

The suspects were identified as a group of young Roma men from Veria that lived in expensive houses and with apparent financial ease that police attribute to income from robberies.

In an operation on December 13 in Veria, with the assistance of local Veria police, the Northeast Attica Security Police arrested two suspected members of the gang aged 22 and 28 years old, respectively. On the following day they caught a third suspect, a 24-year-old Roma man in Acharnes, and they are now seeking another three Roma youths aged 17, 19 and 21 years old.

According to police, the gang roved the country, driving to various towns and cities on the lookout for individuals carrying large sums of money or jewels. When they saw their selected victims get into their cars, the gang would follow and then attack them when they reached their destination, forcefully taking either the money or goods or the car itself if the loot was in the trunk.

In the robbery targeting Parios' associate, they had seen him in the northwestern Greek city of Ioannina on September 24 and followed him to Glyfada in Attica. When he arrived at his destination they attacked him, punching and kicking, and took a briefcase containing the money from the concert. The car used by the robbers was later found abandoned in a rural area in Spata.

The second robbery attributed to the same gang is an attack on two salesmen of precious stones on November 28, who were attacked as they were returning to Athens after showing samples to a jewellery workshop. The gang followed them and attacked them when they reached their home in Vrilissia, taking their car which had the cases of precious stones in the boot. The car was later found abandoned at a Roma camp in Aspropyrgos.

During raids on the suspects' homes in Veria, police also found and confiscated a flare gun, a shotgun, jewellery and watches, cell phones, 7,700 euro and a private car.

The three suspects under arrest were led before a public prosecutor, while an investigation continues to investigate their possible involvement in similar offences.

[19] New Hania prison opens for business

The transfer of the prisoners to the new correctional facility in Agia took place on Saturday night under extremely tight security. The new prison is expected to greatly improve quality of life for inmates, since the old prison had been termed entirely unsuitable and unable to meet even the basic requirements of prisoners, who were often forced to sleep on mattresses in corridors and other communal spaces.

The new prison is considered the most modern in Greece but is unable to operate all five wings at present due to a lack of staff, so that only two wings, each with 40 triple cells, are currently in operation.

[20] Man electrocuted in attempt to steal PPC transformer

An inquiry is being carried out by the Kilkis police.

[21] Two arrested for selling drugs via Internet ads

In raids on the two houses, police found and confiscated 830 grammes of cannabis, 1.1 kilos of magic mushrooms, 780 grammes of an unknown plant material, various sizes of packaging for the drugs, knives and other weapons, three laptops and nine hard drives.

The two men were led before an Athens misdemeanours court prosecutor.

Soccer

[22] Super League results

In other action:

Kerkyra - Panthrakikos Komotini 0-2

OFI Crete - Asteras Tripoli 2-0

Aris Thessaloniki - Xanthi 0-0

Levadiakos Livadia - Platanias Crete 1-0

PAS Yiannina - PAOK Thessaloniki 17/12/2012

Standings after 15 weeks of play:

1. Olympiacos 39

2. PAOK (14 games) 28

3. Asteras 25

4. Atromitos 25

5. Panionios 21

6. PAS Yiannina (14 games) 21

7. Levadiakos 21

8. Panathinaikos 20

9. Panthrakikos 20

10. OFI 17

11. Platanias 16

12. Xanthi 15

13. Veria 15

14. Aris 13

15. Kerkyra 12

16. AEK 12

NOTE: Panathinaikos has had two points deducted.

Weather forecast

[23] Rainy on Monday

[24] Athens' Sunday newspapers at a glance

AVGHI: "Countdown begins for Samaras government".

DIMOKRATIA: "Disbursement of tranche sparks movement on the political scene - the end of parties."

ELEFTHEROS TYPOS: "Lavrentiadis scandal - how it was set up and who it 'burns'".

EPOCHI: "There is money now...(but only for banks and loansharks) - Tranche that coalition government dubs 'national salvation' a communications tool".

ETHNOS: "Time for changes to faces and model of government - Samaras-Venizelos-Kouvelis anxious not to lose opportunity"

EXPRESS: "Loose defence from EU against debt crisis - with Germany's intervention, European leaders postpone the crucial changes".

KATHIMERINI: "They are setting up 'committee of wisemen' for action against tax evasion".

LOGOS: "Support for over-indebted consumers - free court assistance from EKPOIZO and 'New INKA'".

NIKI: "Favourable measures for final settlement - solution for building code transgressions".

TO PARON: "American-Russia war for Public Gas Company- HGTSO for energy control of Europe. Russians offering 1.4 billion euro and pro-American company just 400 million euro".

PROTO THEMA: "Doctors, farmers and Skopjans in SDOE's clutches. FBI methods against tax dodgers".

REALNEWS: "Before the survey is complete, the first 'suitors' for the oil appear".

RIZOSPASTIS: "Protests against the 'tax-robbery' on Wednesday, December 19".

TO ARTHRO: "The end of the troupes - Disintegration of Kammenos' party signals radical developments for populist parties investing in citizens' despair".

TO VIMA: "New parties on the horizon - 52.4 billion euro agreement changes political scene".

VRADYNI: "Retirement guide - the major changes for older insured. Requirements for going into retirement".

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