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Athens News Agency: News in English, 10-04-08
CONTENTS
[01] Droutsas meets Ecum. Patriarch
[02] GDP 0.8 pct down
[01] Droutsas meets Ecum. Patriarch
ISTANBUL (ANA-MPA/M. Savva) - Alternate Foreign Minister Dimitris
Droutsas visited Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos at the Fanar on
Wednesday and reassured that Greece and the Greek government are always
by the side of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the difficult task that
it is carrying out.
Droutsas reassured the Patriarch that in talks he will be having in
Ankara on Thursday, the Greek side will raise the issues of the
Patriarchate's rights, which also constitute "obligations of Turkey
that emanate from the fact that Turkey is a candidate country for
accession to the EU."
On his part, Vartholomeos referred to the special importance attributed
by the Patriarchate to the course of Greek-Turkish relations "both for
its own existence and the stability and balance in the relations of the
two neighbours and allied peoples."
[02] GDP 0.8 pct down
BRUSSELS (ANA-MPA - V. Demiris) Greek GDP fell -0.8 percent in the
fourth quarter of 2009 compared with the third quarter, according to
second estimates released by Eurostat in Brussels on Wednesday. In the
same period, Euro area and EU27 GDP rose 0.1 percent.
The growth rate in Greece in the fourth quarter of 2009 when compared
with the fourth quarter of 2008 was -2.5 percent of GDP (down from -2.6
percent in first estimates published on March 4). In the same space of
time, Euro area GDP declined 2.2 percent (2.1 percent in the first
estimates) and EU27 GDP declined 2.3 percent.
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