Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 15-06-04

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

CONTENTS

[01] The technical and political negotiation was a myth, PASOK leader Venizelos tells ANA-MPA

[02] Greek government has presented a realistic proposal that the institutions have to accept, GUE/NGL president says

[03] ND leader: Speculations over elections are nonsense

[04] Potami leader meets with French Economy Minister Macron

[05] European Commission confirms follow-up meeting between Greek PM and Juncker

[06] FinMin Varoufakis: Solution before the end of the month

[07] Greek unemployment rate eased to 25.4 pct in Feb, Eurostat‏

[01] The technical and political negotiation was a myth, PASOK leader Venizelos tells ANA-MPA

"In fact the government does not negotiate. While time is running out, it considers that it is gaining more time. If it is making a negotiation, this is an inner-party negotiation, in Athens, with its deputies and party members. It is not negotiating with Greece's partners," Venizelos commented on the results of Wednesday's meeting between Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker.

"The partners are now moving in absentia of Greece and it seems that a serious technical discussion has not been held," he noted.

Venizelos stressed that he does not want elections and added: "The truth is that the government does not have a political line right now. It does not have a strategy. I always said that it has been strategically trapped while it seems powerful. It appears as if it has self-confidence, power, plan. It has nothing."

The full interview is available for subscribers at ANA-MPA

[02] Greek government has presented a realistic proposal that the institutions have to accept, GUE/NGL president says

Zimmer also stressed that "the Greek government has presented a realistic proposal that the institutions will have to accept. It is a sustainable solution that promotes democracy, solidarity and development with justice."

"It's time a mutually acceptable long-term agreement is found, which allows the Greek people to look to the future and which will terminate the state of suffocation. The Greek society cannot afford more austerity and unemployment," she added.

[03] ND leader: Speculations over elections are nonsense

Samaras also called on Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to participate in a wide national consensus.

[04] Potami leader meets with French Economy Minister Macron

Potami leader Stavros Theodorakis stated after his meeting with French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron on Thursday in Paris.

Theodorakis noted that the potentials of the Greek economy are huge and he shared the same view with Mr. Macron with whom they discussed issues related to investments, privatisations and all the changes that must be applied in the public as well as in the private sector, namely the reforms that are necessary for the Greek economy to restart.

Potami leader will meet on Thursday evening (19:30) with French Finance Minister Michel Sapin and with noted economist Thomas Piketty.

[05] European Commission confirms follow-up meeting between Greek PM and Juncker

The spokesman said he was unable to confirm a precise date for the next meeting between Tsipras and Juncker but could say that it will take place. He indicated that the participants in the next meeting would likely be the same as in the meeting on Wednesday night.

He also noted that many of the various leaks concerning the contents of the proposal to Greece from the institutions belonged in the sphere of rumour. Schinas said that one needed to look at the overall picture and the essential issues, which were none other than certain gaps that remain and must be bridged through negotiations.

Juncker remains in constant communication with all the political officials involved in the negotiation in order to find a solution, he added.

Eurozone sources, in statements after the Tsipras-Juncker meeting, said they were optimistic that a staff level agreement between Greece and the institutions "was just days away".

[06] FinMin Varoufakis: Solution before the end of the month

As the negotiating process comes to an end, creditors adopt a stricter stance, Varoufakis added.

Referring to the agreement, he spoke of a "complicated negotiation, beset by the creditors' internal disagreement, which will end on June 30," and added that "the creditors' internal disagreement is the only issue, otherwise the discussions are made in good and positive climate."

[07] Greek unemployment rate eased to 25.4 pct in Feb, Eurostat‏

The EU executive's statistics office, in a report released here, said that the unemployment rate in the Eurozone eased to 11.1 pct in April from 11.2 pct in March, while in the EU-28, the unemployment rate fell to 9.7 pct from 9.8 pct over the same months, respectively.

The number of unemployed people in the EU was 23.5 million and 17.8 million in the Eurozone in April.

Greece (25.4 pct) recorded the highest unemployment rate in the EU, followed by Spain (22.7 pct), while Germany (4.7 pct) and Austria (5.7 pct) the lowest rates.

The number of unemployed people in Greece was 1.206 million in February, while unemployment among men was 22.4 pct and among women 29.1 pct. The unemployment rate among young people (aged below 25 years old) was 50.1 pct in February, from 49.9 pct in January, the highest rate in the EU, ahead of Spain (49.6 pct), Croatia (45.5 pct) and Italy (40.9 pct). Germany, Austria and Denmark (7.2 pct, 10.1 pct and 10.1 pct, respectively) recorded the lowest rates.

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