Athens News Agency: News in English, 05-10-10

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

CONTENTS

[01] Pavlopoulos on immigration policy

[02] PASOK leader meets President Papoulias

[03] Alogoskoufis to attend Eurogroup

[04] Government preparing defences against spread of avian flu to Greece

[01] Pavlopoulos on immigration policy

Pavlopoulos said that Europe had been caught off-guard and unprepared by the sudden rise in immigration some years ago, so that it was seen as a problem rather than a natural phenomenon.

"Immigration is not a problem, it is a bonus through which societies are enriched by the contributions of people. It is a means of fertilising cultures," he added.

Outlining government policies and priorities for immigrants, meanwhile, he stressed the need to respect the rights and identity of immigrants and to incorporate them in society.

He said this process should begin through volunteerism and the integration of immigrants into Greek society on the best of terms, letting them know that they can contribute and can become Greeks if they so wish.

The conference was also addressed by Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All Greece, the head of the Greek Orthodox Church, who stressed that the Church was both willing and able to contribute to the integration of immigrants into Greek society, regardless of their national or religious origins.

According to other speakers at the conference, there is currently one immigrant for every 35 people on the planet. In Greece, about 13 per cent of the workforce is made up of immigrants and one in six school students is also an immigrant.

[02] PASOK leader meets President Papoulias

After the meeting, Papandreou told reporters he had considered such a meeting necessary in order to share with the President the concern expressed by the Greek citizens on the course of Greece's national issues, the economy, the high prices and unemployment, the country's developmental course, the fiscal problems, and their "concern over the manner of exercise of power, the ethos of the present government".

Papandreou said he felt it was his duty to convey to the President "what I hear from the Greek citizens".

The PASOK leader also informed Papoulias of his upcoming visit to Turkey. He said the President told him that following the October 3 formal commencement of Turkey's accession negotiations with the EU, there would be many changes in Turkish society and cited Papoulias that "it will be a time of difficult adjustment".

[03] Alogoskoufis to attend Eurogroup

Greek Economy and Finance Minister George Alogoskoufis will participate in Eurogroup's meeting.

Eurogroup's agenda also includes discussion over improving the Eurozone's external representation.

An ECOFIN meeting on Tuesday will discuss ways to promoting transatlantic economic cooperation on the basis of a joint statement drafted by the EU's UK presidency in cooperation with the next presidencies (Austria and Finland).

The text refers to the size and significance of economic relations between EU and the US in relation to an OECD report saying that a further deregulation of bilateral trade could boost per capital GDP by 3-3.5 pct.

The meeting is also expected to discuss competition in specific economic sectors in the EU and financial services.

[04] Government preparing defences against spread of avian flu to Greece

Health Minister Nikitas Kaklamanis said 200,000 packages and 250,000 kilos of a special antibiotic powder recommended for bird flu have been ordered, as well as other medications used to fight the disease. The announcement came in the wake of the first confirmed cases of bird 'flu in wider region surrounding Greece, specifically Turkey and Romania.

Government officials said a WHO-recommended batch of vaccinations aimed at preventing the mutation of the bird flu virus and its transmission to humans is due to arrive in Athens next week.

Kaklamanis, a former chief of radiology at a public hospital in Athens, noted that Greece was one of the few countries to have a draft national action plan for any flu pandemic, which will be finalised in mid-November by the ministries involved, while the EU will also deal with the issue during an informal meeting of EU health ministers in London on Oct. 20.

The minister underlined, meanwhile, that the ordinary flu vaccine provided no protection from bird or avian flu and that no vaccine for the specific flu currently exists. He stressed that there was no need for anyone apart from the usual vulnerable groups to get flu vaccinations

Northern Greece veterinary services on alert

Prefectural health officials across northern Greece were on high alert Monday in the wake of a recent confirmation of bird flu cases -- the first ever in the wider region -- in neighbouring Turkey and Romania.

However, officials at Thessaloniki prefecture's veterinary service emphasised that no instances of the flu have been detected in poultry or any other type of fowl or birds in Greece.

Farms and processing plants in the greater Thessaloniki area are being inspected, while blood tests have been ordered on poultry imported into Greece, officials said, adding that hunters' groups have also been asked to monitor the condition of migratory fowl reaching lakes Koroneia and Volvi, both near Thessaloniki.

Further east, and specifically in Evros prefecture, which serves as the only land frontier between Greece and Turkey, authorities stressed that imports of poultry via the customs posts in the border prefecture have been banned.

Additionally, hunters in Evros have been requested to supply 1,000 samples of game so authorities can test the fowl for the bird flu virus, with any suspicious results expected to be sent to special laboratories in the European Union for confirmation.

Additionally, authorities in Evros warned local farmers not to cull and subsequently bury poultry without first contacting the prefecture's veterinary services.

A meeting of veterinary officials of the prefectures in the tri-nation Thrace area -- Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria -- is set for Friday in the northeast Greek town of Orestiada to exclusively focus on the issue of bird flu precautions.

Veterinary services went on high alert after the culling of thousands of domestic fowl (mostly turkeys) near the northwest Turkish town of Balisekir as well as in Romania over the weekend in order to stop the spread of bird flu, as both countries confirmed their first cases of the disease.

Researchers are still examining, however, whether the virus recorded in both countries is the same H5N1 strain that swept poultry populations in Asia since 2003.

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