Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 14-10-21

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

CONTENTS

[01] Austrian president interviewed by ANA-MPA ahead of Athens visit

[01] Austrian president interviewed by ANA-MPA ahead of Athens visit

The Austrian President, who will pay a two-day visit to Greece on Wednesday, will meet with the President of the Hellenic Republic Karolos Papoulias, the Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, the government vice-president and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos and the main opposition SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras.

Fischer said he had paid his first visit to Greece as president seven years ago. In the meantime, a series of developments have taken place and a lot of things have changed. For this reason, he said, he is very happy for the discussions he will have with the Greek President in order to have a personal view of the condition in Greece and on how it is seen by its leadership.

Referring to the crisis, the Austrian president noted that in its start is was probably wrongly estimated and downgraded, while, as he said, he has the impression that even today nobody can clearly specify the reasons of the crisis and its repercussions.

Regarding Greece, Fischer clarified that it has apparently overcome the more difficult part of the current crisis, and that there will be growth. However, the reasons of the crisis will be discussed for a long time and its repercussion will also be here for long.

He reiterated that his opinion expressed in the past that he cannot even imagine how the Austrians would react if they had to bear so heavy burdens as those imposed on the Greek people. However, he said that he is happy that a new era arrives during which a recovery procedure will be possible and in which the indications for more positive developments are increasing.

On the Cyprus issue, the Austrian president noted that the hope for Cyprus re-unification is justified and should not be abandoned as the hope for the collapse of the Berlin Wall had been considered non-realistic for a long time, but it was succeeded. He also expressed his sorrow for the cancellation of the negotiations adding that with good will a sensible negotiation procedure will open again.

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