Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 13-07-01

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

CONTENTS

[01] PM Samaras: Everyone needs to join 'struggle for New Greece'

[02] ND's 9th party congress ends with a view towards 'a New Greece'

[03] Main opposition SYRIZA: Ruling coalition 'unconvincing as national saviours'

[04] ANEL: 'Yes to the past, if it means retaining sovereignty'

[05] KKE: 'New Greece' built of old materials

[06] Gov't spokesman: Positive economic signs are on the increase

[07] Poll shows slight edge of ND over SYRIZA, support for radical reforms in public broadcasting

[08] Labour minister: PM to head delegation to Berlin July 3

[09] Draft law on new broadcaster possible by mid-July, minister

[10] Employees at former ERT reject minister's proposals for transitional agency staffing

[11] New ministers for admin. reform, health reveal their 'next moves' to Sunday 'Ethnos'

[12] New Justice minister to attend Athens Bar Association board meeting

[13] DIMAR formally approves decision to leave governing coalition

[14] Kouvelis: DIMAR left ruling coalition because of 'one-party arrogance'

[15] KKE criticises ND and SYRIZA

[16] Former Greek premier strikes back, responding to criticism of Andreas Papandreou

[17] Pope Francis seen making overture of friendship to Orthodox Church

[18] Troika returning to Athens, meeting at finance ministry on Monday

[19] PPC will not raise prices when controls are lifted on July 1

[20] Modern Greek sculptures 'talk' to ancient counterparts at the National Archaeological Museum

[21] Eight taxi drivers arrested at airport for tampering with meters

[22] Giannakakis' 'Joy' gets special mention at Edinburgh Film Festival

[23] Mostly fair

[24] The Sunday edition of Athens' dailies at a glance

[01] PM Samaras: Everyone needs to join 'struggle for New Greece'

"ND stood tall when everything fell apart, and this is because our ideas express Greeks. Our party is expanding, it is assuming the frontline to change everything in a country that needs to leave its past behind," the premier said.

He added that "we have a national obligation to fight for New Greece, it is a national necessity, and that is why I addressed an invitation to all two days ago. We must welcome everyone wishing to fight with us and still hesitate to join us. Nobody is a spare."

[02] ND's 9th party congress ends with a view towards 'a New Greece'

"The new Greece we are building fits everyone, except those stuck in the past," Samaras said in his Sunday address. "There are two paths, you either leap into the future or stay stuck in the past. There is no place in the national effort for those stuck in the past and for populists."

Addressing the last day of the congress that began on Friday, when he also delivered the opening remarks, the prime minister said that the battle for a new Greece "has started, we will win it, and all Greeks support us."

"ND stood tall when everything fell apart, and this is because our ideas express Greeks. Our party is expanding, it is assuming the frontline to change everything in a country that needs to leave its past behind," the premier said.

He added that "we have a national obligation to fight for New Greece, it is a national necessity, and that is why I addressed an invitation to all two days ago. We must welcome everyone wishing to fight with us and still hesitate to join us. Nobody is a spare."

Samaras' address was preceded by those of ministers affiliated with ND whose messages focused on progress made by Samaras' current and previous coalition governments - especially on the Cosco agreement in Piraeus and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) - and made frequent references to overcoming the austerity obligations of the memorandums Greece has signed with its lenders by exiting the crisis and improving the economy.

Frequent mention was also made of the necessity of remaining in the eurozone, and of the European Union in particular supporting Greek efforts to overcome the crisis.

Speakers included Ministers Nikos Dendias (Public Order and Citizen Protection), Panos Panagiotopoulos (Culture) and Theodoros Karaoglou (Macedonia-Thrace), among others.

ND secretary general Manolis Kefalogiannis reviewed the party's history and said changes that need to be made in Greece include the process of presidential elections and issues concerning transparency for deputies, ministers and mass media.

[03] Main opposition SYRIZA: Ruling coalition 'unconvincing as national saviours'

In a statement criticising Samaras' closing speech at his party's annual congress in Paleo Faliro, SYRIZA said, "He cannot convince anyone, however, as much as the interest-ruled mass media support this futile effort."

The party was particularly critical of what it said were government leaders "presenting themselves as national saviours at the same time they are preparing for new measures that will deal the fatal blow to society and the economy."

The ruling coalition partners, ND's Samaras and PASOK's Evangelos Venizelos, government's vice president, "cannot balance together for long on the rotten chair of a rule than unites them - their days are numbered," SYRIZA warned.

[04] ANEL: 'Yes to the past, if it means retaining sovereignty'

Kammenos said he supported a Europe consisting of nation-states, as it was when Constantine Karamanlis had signed Greece's membership papers. But "if tomorrow's Europe is a federalist one, without nation-states," ANEL's leader said, "we will definitely insist on remaing in the past, with a nationally sovereign state and a Europe of nation-states."

[05] KKE: 'New Greece' built of old materials

In its statement, the KKE said, "Competitiveness, the privatizations, entrepreneurship, the European perspective are the old worn materials of the capitalist way of development and of the European Union, which led to the capitalist crisis and Greek people to bankruptcy."

The party charged that the Greek people had paid a heavy price for the so-called national targets, which were really class-related targets of capitalism, and called on them to "reject the invitation to submission" issued by ND, the government, and all other parties supporting Greece's European membership.

"For the people, the new Greece can only be built by decoupling from the European Union, unilaterally cancelling the debt and socializing monopolies," it said.

Politics

[06] Gov't spokesman: Positive economic signs are on the increase

In comments to ANA-MPA Web TV, Kedikoglou said, "The new government is ready to deal with the continuing challenges. We are in the midst of a difficult journey. Positive signs are beginning to accumulate, allowing us to talk about proof that Greece is doing well."

Referring to the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project that Greece signed onto recently, he said that "both the pipeline and other developments in the investment sector give us confidence that we are on the right path."

(Note to subscribers: The government spokesman's statements on ANA-MPA's Web TV are viewable at the following link, ftp.ana-mpa.gr. Username: guest 1, password: guest1@. Please note there is no "http://" before the address.)

[07] Poll shows slight edge of ND over SYRIZA, support for radical reforms in public broadcasting

In a sample of 1,000 people surveyed nationally from June 25 to 27, 20.9 percent said they would vote for ND if elections were held now, whereas 19.4 percent would vote for SYRIZA. Extreme-right Golden Dawn (Chryssi Avghi) would be voted by 10.8 percent, followed by PASOK, a government partner, with 6.5 percent, Independent Greeks (Anexartiti Ellines) with 4.6 percent, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) with 4.5 percent and Democratic Left (DIMAR) wilth 3 percent.

Despite the fact that the majority polled (53 percent), especially those voting for opposition parties, believe that the collaboration of ND and PASOK in power will create problems between the two party leaders (Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and vice president Evangelos Venizelos), followers of either party believe collaboration between the two leaders will be successful.

Asked to comment on PASOK's remaining in government (after DIMAR left the tripartite ruling coalition), 46 percent of all voters saw the decision positively, a percentage that rose among PASOK followers to 72 percent. In terms of DIMAR leader Fotis Kouvelis leaving, opinion was negative, with 51 percent of all voters disagreeing with the decision, a percentage rising to 59 percent among DIMAR follwers.

In terms of the ERT broadcaster issue, 68 percent supported radical reforms in public radio and television, while 25 percent were against them.

[08] Labour minister: PM to head delegation to Berlin July 3

According to Vroutsis, a programme currently in effect for 45,000 people up to 29 years old will be augmented with programmes for another 75,000 young people that will begin early in 2014.

The labour minister said that Greece had secured 180 million euros from a total of 6 billion euros to be provided by the European Union to member states specifically for unemployed young people, which would fund programmes for an additional 40,000-50,000 young people.

Greece will intensify its efforts to absorb more funds and support areas of the country where youth unemployment exceeds 50 percent, Vroutsis said.

He also noted that on July 3 Prime Minister Antonis Samaras would lead a delegation to Berlin, where German Chancellor Angela Merkel has invited EU labour ministers to meet to discuss the problem of unemployment.

[09] Draft law on new broadcaster possible by mid-July, minister

"Our first and immediate priority is to have public television start broadcasting again, as the Council of State decision and Greek society requires," Kapsis said.

He said that compensation to staff laid off from ERT, the shutdown public broadcaster, would be based on the unified wage scale.

Kapsis called for "honest dialogue among all" and said "we must decide what kind of a public radio and television we want, and use this to set it up". This would be overseen by a high-level committee including an overseas advisor and would take into account the experience of Greece and other countries in public broadcasting.

[10] Employees at former ERT reject minister's proposals for transitional agency staffing

The disagreement centered on the transitional broadcasting agency's staffing structure. According to the employees, the plan Kapsis presented to their general assembly meeting will include a staff of 2,000 (with selection criteria defined within ten days) on two-month contracts, with a possibility of renewal. Their salaries will be based on the joint ministerial decision (known as KYA) published in the case of journalists and on the unified wage scale in the case of other specializations, with unemployment benefit eligibility at the end of their contracts. Compensation for layoffs will not exceed 15,00 euros.

Following this transitional stage, the new broadcaster will include a smaller staff with flexible duties, applications processed by the public sector hiring agency (ASEP) and bonuses to older workers.

The assembly turned the proposal down and sent Kapsis a note asking for "a written proposal that is institutionally and legally justified and supported in order to avoid gaps and misinterrpetations" and called for the government to apply a recent Council of State ruling which called for uninterrupted radio and television broadcasts to the public.

[11] New ministers for admin. reform, health reveal their 'next moves' to Sunday 'Ethnos'

"I am not the minister of dismissals but of evaluation," Mitsotakis stressed, emphasising that for every employee that leaves the public sector, another will be taken on from those that have passed the civil service selection board (ASEP) exams and are now languishing on waiting lists.

"This will be a real upgrade of human resources," he noted, while stressing that the transformation of public administration in a relatively short space of time was a "difficult wager" and expressing his opposition to "sudden death" tactics for a large public-sector company.

Mitsotakis said that he will ask the European Commission, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Central Bank (ECB) troika for an additional six months in which to carry out measures for the 'mobility' of public-sector staff that will either be transferred to other positions or suspended on lower pay pending possible transfers.

Greece's new health minister, meanwhile, said he would not shy from shutting down hospitals if necessary and promised to "inspect everything" relating to the operation of hospitals and their cost by September. He said there would be exhaustive checks when approving spending and sweeping changes to hospital managements over the next 15 days.

Regarding the state health system's debts, Georgiadis said these came to roughly 1.7 billion euros and promised that these will be rapidly settled, if necessary through ministerial acts of legislation.

"We are completely ready in terms of prior actions. Nothing is going to slip through. All the commitments the country has made will be honoured fully and we will not jeopardise the next loan tranches," he stressed.

[12] New Justice minister to attend Athens Bar Association board meeting

The former president of the Union of Judges and Prosecutors, who held the rank of judge at the Supreme Court before resigning to become minister, will be briefed on issues of concern to lawyers and talk about the ministry's agenda, the issue of the constitution's revision and outstanding legislation issues.

[13] DIMAR formally approves decision to leave governing coalition

The decision was approved by 77 of 107 voting members, out of a total of 111 members, with 22 declaring abstention and 8 declaring "present".

The 22 abstaining members opposed Kouvelis' decision in a letter but did not present it for voting.

Wrapping up the meeting, Kouvelis defended his decision by saying that New Democracy's and Prime Minister Antonis Samaras' attitude towards DIMAR the last two months led to it. The party's future is not to be defined as a "milder version" of main opposition Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA), he said, nor was he planning to join that party, but would focus on creating a third group on the Greek political stage.

[14] Kouvelis: DIMAR left ruling coalition because of 'one-party arrogance'

Speaking at DIMAR's central committee meeting on Saturday, Kouvelis accused Samaras of "issuing ministerial acts only with ND ministers and shutting down ERT during the night, on his own and without consulting his coalition partners, especially as they were flatly against the decision."

ERT was "the tip of the iceberg," he said to explain why DIMAR left the ruling coalition, "but the essential reason can be found in the way the former government operated" which he charged created "a general environment of accumulating and successive incidents of one-party arrogance."

Kouvelis also took a swipe at PASOK, its former coalition partner, and its leader Evangelos Venizelos, now a government vice president, declining to name him specifically but saying that "I was wondering who was pushing the underground propaganda, claiming that during the difficult hours of negotiations over ERT there was, supposedly, discussion of a cabinet reshuffle and the creation of a vice president's position. We no longer wonder, nor does anyone else in Greece - everything became clear after the reshuffle."

The party leader called on "reformative, progressive, ecological, leftist and democratic powers that be, who want a democratic and just Greece within a democratic Europe" to align and begin creating a new political centre in Greece.

[15] KKE criticises ND and SYRIZA

It added that "the way out for the people and youth cannot be found in or be based on the materials of its catastrophe, the European Union, the monopolies, their rule and the management recipes of ND and SYRIZA."

KKE said that the way out from the bind of ND-SYRIZA is to "join the Popular Coalition", to leave the European Union, and to "do away with the rule of monopolies."

[16] Former Greek premier strikes back, responding to criticism of Andreas Papandreou

Defending his father memory and political legacy, Papandreou noted that "contrary to the divisive tendencies revealed at the weekend, the country needs responsibility, seriousness and unifying speech".

Papandreou also suggested that responsibility for the current economic crisis should be sought in the period of ND's government preceding his own.

[17] Pope Francis seen making overture of friendship to Orthodox Church

"I offer a heartfelt and grateful greeting to the Delegation of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, led by Metropolitan Ioannis. I thank Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I for this renewed gesture of fraternity," Pope Francis said in his homily after a Mass marking the feasts of Vatican's patron saints at St. Peter's Basilica on Saturday.

After the end of the Mass, Pope Francis for the first time asked Metropolitan of Pergamon Ioannis to lead the procession to the crypt and pray with him at the tomb of St. Peter.

Later, from the balcony of the Apostolic Palace after the Mass, the Pope also invited tens of thousands to send their heartfelt wishes to Patriarch Bartholomew and pray for him, asking them to sing "Ave Maria" in a show of support.

According to several clerics from both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, the Pope's actions serve to vindicate the decision made by Patriarch Bartholomew to attend the new Pope's enthronement in March.

Financial News

[18] Troika returning to Athens, meeting at finance ministry on Monday

Those attending the noon meeting with the government's economic team will include the new ministers joining the cabinet after last week's reshuffle that will deal directly with the troika. They include: Administrative Reform and e-Governance Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Interior Minister Yiannis Mihelakis, Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis and the two deputy health ministers, Antonis Bezas and Zeta Makri.

A meeting between Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras and troika representatives will follow at 5:00 p.m. and troika members will then meet Mitsotakis at 7:30 p.m. in the evening.

The key issue in the new round of negotiations will be that of the 12,500 public-sector employees that are due to be suspended from duty on lower pay (pending a possible transfer if a vacancy arises), since this has already been linked to the 2.8-billion-euro loan tranche already disbursed.

Also high on the troika's agenda are the actions needed to plug a budget 'hole' at Greece's national health service provider EOPYY, which is largely responsible for a new fiscal 'gap' in 2013-2014. Prior to last week's reshuffle, a special troika team had been set up at the health ministry to examine equivalent measures proposed by the Greek side to compensate for the shortfall.

With regard to taxation, the heads of the troika mission continue to dispute the effectiveness of the single property tax due to go into effect from 2014, arguing that the system is too complex and that tax offices will be unable to collect, and want the previous system with collection of taxes via electricity bills to continue. In addition, they are asking that the installments for payment of the Emergency Special Property Surtax be reduced from five to four in 2013. If the five installments remain, the last will be collected in March 2014 or later and create an additional shortfall of 400 million euros in the 2013 budget. Finally, Greece's creditors are also asking for a review of the various tax exemptions currently in force.

The government's aim once negotiations resume is to complete the mission's review of Memorandum requirements and receive the European Commission's approval before the last third of July. In this case, the path will be open for the disbursement of the next bailout tranche of 8.1 billion euros, which will be paid in "installments" based on implementation of prior actions. Simultaneously, the IMF will be able to convene in order to approve the 1.8-billion-euro loan tranche to be given by the IMF.

Otherwise, if the IMF discerns a 'gap' in Greek finances for 2013-2014 in August, it will be forced by its charter to suspend aid to Greece and will have to call for another 'haircut' of Greek debt, in spite of Germany's disagreement.

[19] PPC will not raise prices when controls are lifted on July 1

The lifting of price control is part of the memorandum loan agreement and related legislation signed by Greece, with the exemption of households with unemployed, low-income or physically handicapped members.

Up to now, the process followed for pricing was to have the Energy Regulatory Authority (RAE) present its proposed changes to the Environment Ministry for approval. From July 1 onwards, prices will be set by the providers, with the RAE checking annually for any price abuses.

Zervos told the shareholders that prices for low-voltage consumers would not change on July 1 and that no policy decisions would be taken until the end of the year.

Regarding the government's privatization plan for the PPC, Zervos said no decision had been made yet on which units would be put up for sale. Of the PPC power-producing units, 30 percent are to create a "small PPC" that will also take over 30 percent of customers. The plan includes a sale of shares in networks and the sale of 17 percent of the 51 percent stake currently held by the state.

The old, ineffective and polluting production units that operate on fuel - mostly oil or lignite - will be gradually replaced, Zervos said, while the new natural gas units of Aliveri (on Evia) and Megalopoli (in the Peloponnese) will be entering production. Old oil-powered units will not be torn down but maintained in case of an emergency in the supply of natural gas, he added.

General News

[20] Modern Greek sculptures 'talk' to ancient counterparts at the National Archaeological Museum

The "time, form, concept" exhibit will focus on "examining cardinal concepts and structures of human history through the sounds of language and the dialectical relationship between meaning and materials" and will give visitors and opportunity to compare sculptural pieces through the centuries.

The exhibition is curated by Dr Georgios Kakavas, deputy director of the National Archaeological Museum, and Museum staff, including architect Bessy Drougka, archaeologist-museologist Despina Kalesopoulou and archaeologist Ariadne Klonizaki. The scientific advisor of the exhibition is Dimitris Pavlopoulos, assistant professor of History of Art at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

Sponsors include OTE-Cosmote and communication sponsors Kathimerini and Culture Now.

Korovessi studied at the Athens School of Fine Arts, and she began creating works showing the use of technology, music and science after researching at the Centre of Electronic Music, founded by the composer Iannis Xenakis. This led to her creating "sound sculptures", later dubbed SonArt.

She is a Silver Olympic Medal award winner at the International Olympic Spirit in Beijing 2008 Competition and has been awarded also by UNESCO, the Nazionale Premio Arte e Sport and the 9th Premio Internazionale, both of Italy.

[21] Eight taxi drivers arrested at airport for tampering with meters

Following taxi inspections by specialists, it was found that seven of those arrested used a telephone-type cable on their cash registry machines to block the issuing of receipts to passengers, two had fixed their meters to register a higher-than-actual price and two were found in possession of narcotics.

They were led before the prosecutors to testify, while six fines totalling 35,000 euros were levied on the owners of the taxis.

[22] Giannakakis' 'Joy' gets special mention at Edinburgh Film Festival

The festival ended on Saturday, with the award for Best Film in the International Competition presented to Mahdi Fleifel's 'A World Not Ours'.

Giannakakis' black-and-white Greek film is about a woman that steals a baby from a maternity hospital and dreams of sharing a life with it, even if it means committing murder. The film was greeted as a "unique portrait of female character and an exception performance by Amalia Moutousi," the female lead.

Weather forecast

[23] Mostly fair

[24] The Sunday edition of Athens' dailies at a glance

EPOCHI: "Preparing layoffs, announcing suppression"

KYRIAKATIKI ELEFTHEROTYPIA: "'Troika story' starting tomorrow" (first two words in English)

ETHNOS: "War over the public sector"

KATHIMERINI: "Investment incentives and new measure threats"

KYRIAKATIKI DIMOKRATIA: "Bulldozing the public sector"

KYRIAKATIKOS RIZOSPASTIS: "Development for the people, not for monopolies"

PROTO THEMA: "Oligarchs buying out, roaming, threatening and enjoying themselves in a country of bottomless poverty and unemployment"

REAL NEWS: "(German Finance Minister Wolfgang) Schaeuble brining new memorandum"

TO PARON: "They're pawing bank accounts"

TO VIMA: "The Samaras-Venizelos bet of governance", referring to the PM and his government's vice president

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