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Thursday, 21 November 2024
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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 15-03-02Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] Greek gov't filing demarches over Turkish Notam concerning Aegean SeaANA/MPA---The Greek government will remonstrate with international organisations following the publication on Saturday by the Turkish government of a Notam that has designated a large section of the Aegean Sea - from the Greek islands of Skyros to that of Limnos - as an area where it will conduct armed forces exercises and use it as a firing range until the end of the year, violating international law and Greek sovereign rights.According to sources, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias decided on Sunday to file demarches at the United Nations, NATO, the European Union and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), condemning Turkey. A demarche was also filed on Sunday evening at the Turkish Embassy in Athens. [02] FinMin: Greece will need new debt agreementANA/MPA---Greece will need a new international agreement on the debt in order to meet nearly 11.5 billion euros in obligations between June and August, and without an agreement past the four-month extension of the current fiscal programme this payment will be impossible, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis told German financial daily Handelsblatt, expected to be published in Monday's issue.In excerpts released on Sunday, Varoufakis is quoted as saying, "Just as we do not want to hear the word 'troika' anymore, our creditors do not want to hear the word 'haircut', and I understand this." He added that there are "smarter solutions" than a debt cancellation and gave swaps as an example, also proposing the issuance of treasury bills whose yield would be linked to GDP numbers. "Then it would be in our creditors' interest as well to see our economy restart," he noted. Among other things he said that the fact that wages and prices are still dropping is a sign of a deep recession, while he said that the return to growth in the nominal GDP is the only way for Greece to start facing its mountain of a debt, despite the low interest rates. "The way to reverse this is to have investments," he clarified. Asked to comment on the government's plans to fight tax evasion, he said "success is not guaranteed... But what gives me hope is that none of us belongs to the old system - none of us has ever received a single euro. In that sense, we are independent" (of interests). In terms of acquiring new friends since assuming the finance ministry, he said that "the Eurogroup is not a field where friendships are made quickly," but stressed that relations with Greece's creditors are "a lot more more civilised than some mass media report". The same holds true for his German counterpart, Wolfgang Schaeuble, of whom he noted, "I find him a fascinating person and consider it an honour to have met him. I appreciate our open exchange of views." [03] German FinMin: If Greece does not keep its commitments it will have to face the consequencesANA/MPA---German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told German TV station ZDF that what he is interested in is the commitments of the Greek side."If they do not keep them, they will have to face the consequences," he said referring to public statements made by Greek government's officials. "If the Greek government asked for my advice, I would say: you need to behave in such a way so as to gain the best possible trust, because you need the trust of the investors and of the banks. The way they behave or as this is perceived by the international media, I do not feel that strengthens the trust and that leaves me speechless, because in my opinion, this is not in the interests of Greece," he noted. In another interview with German TV station ARD, he said he understands the lack of trust that the German public opinion shows towards Greece's reform plans. He also expressed the wish that the Greek government would make use of the four-month extension that was given so as to complete the reforms. "It is in Greece's interests and also of Europe's; but mainly of Greece. If they want aid, they need to do what has been agreed. Greece has lately made its position rather difficult, with a rhetoric which is difficult to be understood outside Greece," he said. Asked whether a statement by his Greek counterpart Yanis Varoufakis on Greece's payments to the ECB constitutes a threat or even blackmail, Schaeuble said: "It is none of the two, because Greece has signed to keep all its commitments in full and in time. He knows – and he should know, since he is Greece's Finance minister and an Economics professor, therefore he knows all that - that the moment he does not make the first payment in time, this would mean a credit event. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes and be responsible for what would then happen to Greece." Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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