Athens News Agency: News in English, 03-12-03

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

CONTENTS

[01] Weather Forecast: Cloud, showers on Wednesday

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates: Wednesday

[03] Greece to participate in EU's initial defense nucleus

[01] Weather Forecast: Cloud, showers on Wednesday

Cloudy weather is forecast throughout the country with scattered showers mainly on the eastern mainland, the Cyclades and Crete. Winds variable, moderate to very strong, turning gale force in parts of the Aegean. Temperatures to drop slightly, with a minimum of 11C and maximum of 14C in Athens; and in Thessaloniki, 08C to 11C.

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates: Wednesday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.207

Pound sterling 0.701

Danish kroner 7.501

Swedish kroner 9.083

Japanese yen 131.9

Swiss franc 1.567

Norwegian kroner 8.228

Cyprus pound 0.588

Canadian dollar 1.576

Australian dollar 1.657

[03] Greece to participate in EU's initial defense nucleus

BRUSSELS (ANA/G. Zitouniati) - Greece will participate in the initial nucleus of European Union member-states that will create the European defense, Greek Defense Minister Yiannos Papantoniou said on Tuesday here.

''Greece will participate along with France and Germany in the first nucleus, which will be created for European defense, following an agreement between French President (Jacques) Chirac, German Chancellor (Gerhard) Schroeder and British Prime Minister (Tony) Blair and which became a reality during the latest summit of the Intergovernmental Conference for the finalizing of the European Constitution,'' Papantoniou noted after the meetings.

''It is the first time in modern Greek history that our country is participating in the beginning of a great European effort co-formulating elements in a compatible way with our national interests as well,'' he added.

Speaking of the NATO two-day summit here, which concluded on Tuesday, the defense minister said that the reactions of the United States and those of the alliance where mild and did not question the development of the European defense.

''It is obvious that the US - at the highest political level - have agreed with the development of this initiative. And the participation of Britain in the European effort has lessened especially the American reactions,'' he said.

He reiterated a recent statement that the participation of Britain provides credibility for the European effort, noting that for the European defense to be credible and have greater range it will have to operate in a complementary fashion with NATO and not antagonistically to it.

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