Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 15-09-10

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

CONTENTS

[01] A policy that will make use of the rifts in EU is needed, former FM Kotzias tells ANA-MPA

[02] Greek unemployment rate at 25.2 pct in June‏

[03] Eldorado Gold suspends mining and development activities in Halkidiki

[04] National Technical University honours Le Corbusier

[01] A policy that will make use of the rifts in EU is needed, former FM Kotzias tells ANA-MPA

"We need a policy that will make use of the rift caused by the agreement Alexis Tsipras signed, despite its harshness, a policy which will make use of all possibilities that are out of the memorandum, a policy that will exploit the policy faults between Americans, French and Italians and parts of Berlin. This should be the main topic of the discussion. Unfortunately, we do not talk about them," noted Kotzias.

The former foreign minister described SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras as "charismatic", arguing that "he constitutes the unique perspective for the country."

He estimated that SYRIZA will be the first party in the elections and the only question is whether it will approach or exceed the percentage required to have parliamentary majority.

Kotzias ruled out the possibility of a great coalition government, at least with his participation.

Asked on the migration issue, he said that he was the first one to mention the problem in February 2015.

The full interview is available for subscribers at ANA-MPA website.

[02] Greek unemployment rate at 25.2 pct in June‏

The statistics service, in a report, said that the number of unemployed people totaled 1,204,844 in June, down by 81,474 compared with June 2014, and down by 2,609 compared with May 2015.

The number of employed people totaled 3,584,973, up 1.1 pct from June 2014 but down 1.2 pct from May 2015.

The unemployment rate among women was 29.5 pct in June (30.6 pct in June 2014), while among men it fell to 21.7 pct from 23.5 pct over the same periods, respectively.

The unemployment rate in the 15-24 age group fell to 48.3 pct in June from 49.4 pct in June last year, in the 25-34 age group it fell to 32.1 pct from 35.2 pct, in the 35-44 age group it eased to 22.4 pct from 22.8 pct, in the 45-54 age group it fell to 19.7 pct from 20.9 pct, in the 55-64 age group it eased to 17.2 pct from 17.4 pct and in the 65-74 age group it fell to 10 pct from 11.6 pct.

Thessaly/Central Greece (27.1 pct from 25.9 pct), Epirus-Western Macedonia (26.7 pct from 27.2 pct) and Attica (25.3 pct from 27.3 pct) recorded the highest unemployment rates among the country's regions, followed by Macedonia/Thrace (25.2 pct from 27.5 pct), Crete (24.3 pct from 25.8 pct), Peloponese/Western Greece/Ionian Islands (24.1 pct from 26.4 pct) and Aegean (18.4 pct from 17.8 pct).

[03] Eldorado Gold suspends mining and development activities in Halkidiki

Hellas Gold is taking legal action against the decision of the Ministry of Energy, including the filing of an injunction request before the Council of State, Greece's Supreme Court on administrative and environmental matters. At this point, Eldorado is unable to provide guidance with respect to timing of any potential court decision.

Hellas Gold will continue to perform essential environmental protection works at its three sites in Halkidiki – Stratoni, Skouries, and Olympias – in order to safeguard the environment and the public interest. Hellas Gold will, however, be forced to suspend the majority of its employees in Greece for a period of up to three months on terms in accordance with Greek labor legislation. Hellas Gold would be left with no option but to terminate employees if the permits were not reinstated. Currently, Hellas Gold and its contractors employ 2,000 persons directly in Halkidiki. Eldorado estimates that 5,000 direct and indirect jobs have been created in Greece as a result of its mineral investment in the country.

Paul Wright, Chief Executive Officer of Eldorado, commented: "This unfortunate outcome is detrimental to the Company, Hellas Gold, our Greek employees, contractors, community supporters, and the Greek society. However, Eldorado cannot and will not continue to allocate expenditures to our projects in Greece while the Ministry of Energy is openly hostile to our activities, as evidenced by recent Ministry decisions. We sincerely hope to resume our activities in Halkidiki at some point in the near future – preferably through constructive engagement with the Ministry of Energy rather than a court decision."

[04] National Technical University honours Le Corbusier

The premiere of the events will be on October 6 with the group exhibition "In the name of Corbusier".

The Swiss architect had a close relationship with Greece which will be highlighted through the exhibition "The Greek Corbusier". His relationship with Greece was vivid from the 30s to the 60s, and 18 Greek architects had studied in his studio. His mark in Greece is clear on the hotels "Xenia" built by Greek architects that were influenced by him.

The events in Greece are co-organised or supported partly or totally by the French Institute, the Swiss Embassy, the Greek Docomomo and other cultural or scientific entities.

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