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Saturday, 21 December 2024
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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-06-15Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] Greece needs action on debt before 2018, German Greens MP Sven-Christian Kindler saysGermany took a "wrong path" during the crisis and imposed a failed policy of "austerity to the death," according to the German Green Party's MP in the federal Parliament's Budget Committee Sven-Christian Kindler. In an exclusive interview to the ANA-MPA on Wednesday, Kindler expressed his satisfaction with the Budget Committee's decision to approve the disbursement of loans to Greece but noted that postponing discussion on debt relief until after 2018 did not offer Greece much-needed stability."The German government was forced to abandon its stance of blocking this and there is finally a discussion on debt relief. The problem is that we will talk about substantive, therefore broad, debt relief as of 2018. This comes too late and is too unclear in order to give Greece what it needs most: stability. The result will be more poverty and unemployment in Greece," he said. The lack of clarity was extending the crisis in Greece, since there was no steady framework for investments, Kindler noted and for this reason the Greens had asked for steps to reduce the debt before 2018. The reason why Wolfgang Schaeuble wanted to postpone the discussion on the debt until after the German elections, he added, was not to give the German government the necessary democratic legitimacy but the "divided" CDU/CSU Parliamentary group and the fact "that he doesn't want to publicly admit that his line failed." "The previous years have shown this: the policy of austerity to the death has failed. To 'continue as is' will not get Greece out of the crisis," he added, noting that a sustainable solution for Greece would come about through fairer and reasonable reforms, investments along the lines of a "Green New Deal" and a "socio-ecological" clean-up of the budget. Kindler also commented on the Bundestag vote recognising the Armenian Genocide, which was strongly promoted by the Greens, and his shock at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's reaction, saying that Turkey was growing in the wrong direction under his leadership. With respect to the refugee crisis, Kindler said he was in favour of changes to the Dublin treaty system and called for European decisions that do not abandon Greece in the face of challenges, while rejecting a "quid-pro-quo" attitude and the linking of the refugee to the economic crisis as "cynical and wrong". [02] Acropolis Museum turns 7, counts 9.5 million visitorsThe outward-looking policy of the Acropolis Museum which has been its main focus since its opening seven years ago, has led to a steady increase in visitors, museum president Dimitris Pandermalis said on Wednesday, during a press conference to mark the anniversary.According to the data, the museum has welcomed 9.5 million visitors since 2009 and aspires to exceed 10 million by autumn. Only the last year (May 2025-June 2016), the Acropolis Museum opened its doors to 1,425,100 visitors. The majority of those are Greeks, followed by Americans, French, British, Italians, Australians, Spaniards, Canadians and Chinese. "There's stability in [the number of] visits and we have been able to retain the numbers since the first year," Pandermalis said, presenting the museum's annual results. The main aims for the seventh year of operation have been maintaining the high level of services to visitors, increasing digital applications in exhibition halls and introducing an innovative program for temporary exhibitions, he added. The Acropolis Museum was built to house every object that has been found on the rock of the Acropolis and the surrounding area, which cover a wide period from the Mycenaean period to Roman and Early Christian Athens. [03] Strikes on all rail transport after 21:00 on Wednesday, no rail access to Athens AirportA strike on all Athens fixed-rail public transport, including Greek railway trains serving the Athens airport, will all bring the city's metro, tram and rail systems to a halt after 21:00 on Wednesday and until the end of the shift. Further strike action affecting the tram, metro and electric railways is planned on Thursday, from noon until 17:00, after workers transferred a work stoppage originally announced for Friday.Workers on all Greek railway companies (OSE, TRAINOSE, Proastiakos) are continuing with a series of three-hour work stoppages, taking place from 5:00-8:00, 13:00-16:00 and 21:00-24:00 on Wednesday and Thursday. Strikes by Proastiakos also affect metro services to the Athens airport. Strike action will be joined on Monday by Civil Aviation Authority staff, who have announced a five-day strike ending at midnight the following Friday. Staff held the strikes in protest against plans to transfer the state transport companies to a new privatisation fund. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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