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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 15-12-01Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] The government will be judged at the end of its four years, PM tells SYRIZA lawmakersAs long as the government pressed ahead and achieved its goals, it would prove all doom-mongers wrong, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Tuesday while addressing SYRIZA lawmakers. At the same time, he showered criticism on a political opposition that he said "was not equal to the occasion.""It is the people that make governments rise and fall," he emphasised, adding that the government will be judged on the basis of its achievements at the end of its four-year term, in the autumn of 2019. In a pep talk to SYRIZA MPs in the wake of the weekend's failed attempt to craft consensus with the opposition parties, Tsipras underlined that whatever instability might affect the country's political system, "there is no crisis of instability in this Parliamentary group." "If there is instability in the political system, then this is found in those that will meet in this room in a few hours... in an opposition not equal to the occasion," he said, accusing main opposition New Democracy of indulging in pointless anti-SYRIZA rhetoric. Tsipras told MPs that the government will do everything possible to protect pensions without further painful cuts, and at the same time, "pull some irons out of the fire" because that was owed to the next generations. "For the first time we will attempt to achieve the target of making savings of 1 pct of GDP as foreseen in the August agreement - which New Democracy, PASOK and Potami voted for - not through horizontal cuts but by rationalising the system," he said. He noted that the government had already achieved spending cuts of 0.6 pct of GDP and now had to find an additional 0.4 pct. [02] FM Kotzias urges 'calm and composure' in relations with Russia, continued peace effort in SyriaBRUSSELS (ANA-MPA/ C. Vasilaki) In a statement from the NATO ministerial in Brussels, Greece's Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias on Tuesday called for toning things down and for calm and composure as concerns the relations of the West, and especially NATO, with Russia - as well as continued efforts for peace in Syria."We believe that the talks and dialogue that started in Vienna must continue, with the main aim of our ensuring peace and the restored functioning of society in Syria, and the shaping a democratic Constitution and elections in that country," he said. "Because the source of the refugee problem is the Syrian crisis, and the solution to this problem is to bring peace to Syria," he added. Kotzias also announced that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will be visiting Athens on December 8. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |