Athens News Agency: News in English, 05-02-13

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

CONTENTS

[01] President Stephanopoulos points to 'self-catharsis', says Democracy provides that ability

[02] KKE 17th Congress concludes with re-election of Papariga to party helm

[03] Five hikers killed, six injured in avalanche near ski resort on Mt. Mainalos

[04] PASOK leader Papandreou addresses event on future of Euro-Atlantic relations in Paris

[01] President Stephanopoulos points to 'self-catharsis', says Democracy provides that ability

The President was speaking at celebrations and a parade in Litohoro, in Pieria prefecture, marking the 128th anniversary of the revolution of Olympos, and responding to a greeting by Litohoro mayor George Papathanasiou, who said that Stephanopoulos "clear and honest political word marks the public life, and should show the way to the younger politicians".

Stephanopoulos, replied that the democratic form of government in Greece "can be fearlessly and proudly compared with any other form of government in the West".

"Naturally, phenomena that are undesirable appear in our form of government, but Democracy has the ability of self-catharsis, it has the ability to function on the basis of its institutions, and it will be proven in this instance as well that it can function and bring about the desired results without the intervention of any violent or external force," Stephanopoulos said.

The President said he was happy to ascertain, at the end of his term in office, that "throughout all this time, that I have participated in the operation of a form of government which was the best since the establishment of the Greek State".

[02] KKE 17th Congress concludes with re-election of Papariga to party helm

The new Central Committee will elect a new Political Bureau at an imminent meeting, the date of which was not immediately announced.

Closing the Congress discussions on Saturday night, Papariga said it was the Central Committee's assessment that the KKE was on an upward course.

She said the climate of self-criticism expressed in the addresses by the delegates, "without griping and defeatism and without trying to pass the responsibilities down", was a positive factor. That spirit, which indicated the party's maturation, was an element that proved the KKE's upward course, and something that needed to be preserved and developed after the Congress.

Chiefly, however, she noted that that climate needed to be manifested "immediately and without delay in the effort to adapt the content of the guidance work, to orient our action to the popular problems more than we have in the past, to the cause of socialism, with particular emphasis on the working class, the youth, and women".

[03] Five hikers killed, six injured in avalanche near ski resort on Mt. Mainalos

The leader of a group of hikers, speaking to fire brigade officers by cell phone, had initially reported that at least five of the 32 members of the group were missing after the avalanche struck at 1:35 p.m. at Ostrakina on Mt. Mainalos. He also said he feared two of the missing trekkers were dead.

Three fire trucks and a ground division of 50 firefighters from Tripolis rushed to the region, as well as a 15-member team of the EMAK emergency rescue squad from Elefsina, with specially trained dogs, and a group of volunteer rescuers from Patras with a special vehicle equipped with trackers capable of tracing persons in the snow, assisted by a Super Puma all-weather helicopter.

The site of the avalanche was at a large distance from the Mt. Mainalon ski centre, and snowfall and heavy fog in the area were obstructing the efforts of rescue crews.

According to later reports, the bodies of the five missing hikers were found by rescue workers under the snow.

The 32-member group, belonging to the Greek Hiking Club of Athens, was on a visit to the Mainalos Ski Centre when the avalanche hit, at the peak of Profitis Ilias.

[04] PASOK leader Papandreou addresses event on future of Euro-Atlantic relations in Paris

The session was presided by former French socialist prime minister Michel Rocard, and attended by prominent personalities from the European socialist parties, as well as eminent professors from US universities.

The main theme of the morning session was to what degree Europe and the US comprise two internationalistic models moving along different paths.

One of the views discussed was the position for "the democratisation of globalisation, the globalisation of democracy, and not the obstruction of globalisation". It was stressed that although cooperation with the US was necessary, the EU must nevertheless have its own, clear-cut counter-proposals on the major issues and international security inorder for there to be a balance of powers.

Addressing that theme, Papandreou said that US president George Bush "will come and seek cooperation, without using the word 'crusade' this time, and perhaps he will speak about the zeal for spreading democracy in the world".

"What will be the European reply, and what can the Left's reply be?", he questioned, adding "the immediate reaction could be: We do not agree with the way in which you confront things".

Papandreou said he believed that such a response did not offer an alternative solution. "On the contrary, I believe that we must think about the meaning of democracy today," he said, adding that "consequently, to formulate international democratic rules, the globalisation of the meaning of democracy, comprises a major but necessary challenge".

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