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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 12-03-29Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] PASOK leader in CyprusAMNA-PASOK president Evangelos Venizelos is due in Cyprus for a two-day working visit on Thursday.During his first visit abroad as PASOK leader, Venizelos will be received on Friday by Cyprus President Demetris Christofias and hold separate meetings with all Cyprus parliamentary party leaders the same day. The PASOK president will also be received by Archbishop of Cyprus Chryssostomos. [02] Israel examining natgas export via GreeceAMNA-- Israel is examining all the alternative options for exporting natural gas, but channeling it to Europe is the most natural choice, and export via Greece is being mulled, Israeli energy and water resources minister Uzi Landau said in Athens on Wednesday, addressing an Economist conference on energy infrastructures in Greece, Cyprus and Israel.Addressing the same conference, Greek environment, energy and climate change minister George Papaconstantinou said the possibility exists of creating a third natgas transport corridor to Europe via Greece, while Cyprus' commerce, industry and tourism minister Neoklis Sylkiotis sad that the three countries were capable of guaranteeing the smooth flow of natural gas to Europe, adding that at least eight years would be required to build the relevant infrastructures in order for exports of natural gas to begin from the eastern Mediterranean region.amna Landau said that the questions that need to be answered with respect to natgas export from Israel were whether the gas will be channeled to Asia or to Europe, and whether it will be exported in liquefied natural gas (LNG) form or by pipeline via Cyprus and Greece to the rest of Europe.amna "All these are under discussion, and there will be proposals," he said, noting that channeling the gas to Europe was the most natural choice. [03] Bank recapitalization plan unveiled before EasterAMNA-- The terms and conditions of a bank recapitalization scheme were discussed on Wednesday during a meeting between Prime Minister Lucas Papademos with Finance Minister Philippos Sahinidis and the ministry's secretary general Elias Plaskovitis. The government is determined to take a final decision on the issue before the Easter holidays without affecting a course towards holding general elections in the country.amnaMeanwhile, the Finance ministry on Wednesday announced it was extending a deadline for Greek banks to publish their balance sheets for 2011 until April 20, offering more time to banks to fully assess the impact of a PSI program on their results. [04] 'End to Antiquities Trafficking' exhibitionAMNA--A temporary exhibition dealing with one of the most contemporary and sensitive issues and showcasing stolen artifacts that have been reacquired, titled "End to Antiquities Trafficking", will open in April and run through September at the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki.A total of 170 artifacts from the Museum's collections, the 6th and 7th Ephorates of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities and the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities will be on display in the six sections of the exhibition, as well as archive material from the culture and tourism ministry's protection of cultural treasures directorate.amna The first section, titled "The Abduction of History", will feature a review of antiquities smuggling and illegal trafficking of cultural treasures from antiquity to the present, with the display of 101 artifacts of recent antiquities smuggling from Macedonia, coming most likely from an Archaic period cemetery. The showcase exhibits of the second section, titled "Antiquities without a Past", will be two stolen and retrieved gold wreaths: a golden wreath from a Thessaloniki Aristotelion University (AUTH) excavation at the Vergina archaeological site which will be on loan from the Archaeological Museum of Pella and a golden funerary wreath returned by the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles in 2007.amna The third section, titled "Lands without History", will feature five stolen Cycladic statuettes now in the Thessaloniki Archaeology Museum's collections. [05] Revision of visa issuance keyAMNA--Accelerating procedures towards simplifying visa issuance was the key to maximizing tourism figures in Greece. This was the message of a seminar organized by Greek Tourism Organization (EOT) to celebrate its 60th birthday in Athens on Wednesday.Greek Culture and Tourism Minister Pavlos Geroulanos, in his address, said a Schenghen treaty did not favour the smooth travel of tourists from countries outside the treaty and underlined that the ministry was taking initiatives towards changing this fact.amna Taleb D. Rifai, World Tourism Organization UNWTO , secretary general, in his address stressed that Greece could play a vital role in a front towards modernizing visa issuance. Greece should welcome its incoming tourists from countries outside the Schenghen treaty in a better way, Geroulanos said, adding these people should not be treated as suspected criminals. He stressed that from the 16.5 million tourists visiting Greece, only 700 choose to stay in the country illegally Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |