Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-06-23

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

CONTENTS

[01] PM Tsipras meets party leaders to discuss changes to constitution, election law

[02] Mouzalas announces 500 places for unaccompanied refugee children by July

[03] Doctors Without Borders to ANA-MPA: EU's refugee policies are in contrast to humanitarian values

[04] DESFA CEO says agreement with Bulgartransgaz to be signed on June 24

[01] PM Tsipras meets party leaders to discuss changes to constitution, election law

"For us, this discussion should take place at another time and be linked with a revision of the constitution," Mitsotakis said, noting that there necessary neutrality for this discussion did not currently exist.

According to ND's leader, the country needed stable governments and the "rules of the game cannot be changed 'on the hoof' and in accordance with the tactical choices of the government."

ND was currently only prepared to discuss issues relating to giving the vote to expatriates living abroad and on carving up the large constituencies, he said, since the present election system "serves the need for stable government." He also noted that the prime minister had not presented specific proposals and once again called on Tsipras to agree to launching a discussion on revising the constitution, so that the next Parliament has powers to change the constitution.

Mitsotakis was the last of three opposition party leaders that met with the prime minister on Thursday, in meetings requested by Tsipras to sound out the common ground in efforts to change election law and revise the constitution. He had earlier met PASOK leader Fofi Gennimata and before that with Communist Party of Greece (KKE) leader Dimitris Koutsoumbas.

Emerging from her meeting with the prime minister, Gennimata said their talk had been more exploratory than specific and that their views only coincided on a proposal to reduce the voting age to 17.

"We made no agreements. Mr. Tsipras did not make his views clear, he did not present a comprehensive proposal," she said, noting that PASOK would vote once the government made its intentions clear. "In any case, Gennimata added, we will not do them the favour of diverting discussion from the daily problems of the country and society, problems that the SYRIZA-ANEL government has created."

According to Koutsoumbas, he had repeated his party's standing position in favour of simple and untampered proportional representation, without any bonuses or "minimums" that might distort the will of the Greek people as reflected in elections.

"I cannot, of course, say that there was agreement on these issues. You know KKE's position. The prime minister gave me the impression that he is listening to the views of the parties at present, that the government and he have not arrived at a specific framework and specific positions on all these problems," he said.

Government sources said that there will be an overall assessment of the momentum of a proposal for simple proportional representation after the prime minister concludes his meetings with opposition leaders on Friday, when he meets with Centrists' Union leader Vasilis Leventis and Potami party leader Stavros Theodorakis. Following this, SYRIZA's Central Committee will meet at the weekend and submit the party's proposal to the rest of the political parties.

The talks between the prime minister and the other party leaders were sincere, and despite the various disagreements expressed regarding parameters of simple proportional representation there were also elements of convergence, they said. Among such points of convergence they listed a right to vote from 17 and an abolition or significant reduction of the current 50-seat 'bonus' to the party with the highest percentage of the vote.

In a Twitter post earlier on Thursday, Tsipras said the government was "striving for changes to the election law and Constitution that are based on the broadest possible consensus." The government's goals are to make the changes in election law at a time that is "comfortably distant" from the next electoral race and pass them with a two-thirds majority - or at least 200 votes - so that they go into effect at the next elections

[02] Mouzalas announces 500 places for unaccompanied refugee children by July

The minister said that the situation in the Greek islands hosting migrants and refugees remained difficult, with about 50 pct having entered the country illegally, though great efforts were being made to address the problems and had brought significant relief. He reported a total of 8,000 refugees and migrants on all the islands at present, noting that in Mytilene alone their numbers had falled from 10,000 at first to 3,000 at present.

He admitted that there was tension and delinquency at the accommodation centres, however, noting that the residents there were "running out of money, feeling trapped and have a right to be critical."

The rate of examining asylum applications had also increased, he added, from 30 a day at first to 70 a day at present, while the final goal was to reach 150 a day, he said.

[03] Doctors Without Borders to ANA-MPA: EU's refugee policies are in contrast to humanitarian values

"The EU-Turkey agreement is the last in a long line of anti-humanitarian policies which the European governments discuss and spreading them in more than 16 countries (including Eritrea, Sudan, Somalia and Afghanistan - four of the top ten countries that produce refugees), with the sole aim of denying people the right to request asylum. This was the limit for the 'Doctors Without Borders'," Oberreit told the news agency.

He said the deal with Turkey not only worsens the refugee crisis, but it also endangers the actual notion of the refugee. "We cannot receive funding from governments or institutions whose policies cause so much damage," he added.

Oberreit also noted that the agreement may also trigger a dangerous domino reaction, whereby countries welcoming refugees around the world that caring for people who were forced to flee their homes is optional and they can buy their way out of providing asylum.

"There is a need for a European asylum policy that reflects the term 'asylum' and not be equivalent to the term 'rejection'," he noted.

Asked about the impact of the NGO's decision to reject funding from the EU, Oberreit said their operations will not be affected. "While we will have approximately 60 million euros less than our estimated revenues, we have reserves, which are there firstly to allow us to react to unforeseen events and also to allow 'Doctors Without Borders' to withstand recessions," he said.

Commenting on the Greek asylum system, the head of the NGO said it is "completely overloaded" with thousands of people trapped in the country, without access to the asylum process. "This has dramatic consequences. If they cannot apply for asylum, they cannot apply or relocation or family reunification in other European countries," he explains, noting that without the option of asylum, they are essentially forced - due to purely administrative reasons - to remain in Greece and live in poor conditions, completely dependent on humanitarian aid.

To resolve this problem, he continued, Greece and the EU should establish group protection, change the relocation process to bypass the asylum system, and put in place rapid procedures for vulnerable cases. "This is not a Greek problem, it's a problem for all of Europe," Oberreit said, adding that if Europe and Greece don't make the system more effective, refuges will be pushed into the hands of traffickers, resulting in more deaths.

[04] DESFA CEO says agreement with Bulgartransgaz to be signed on June 24

"Creating new supply routes, along with the unwavering commitment of DESFA for the integration of the regional gas markets, will allow the cost-effective operation of the market for the benefit of the Greek and European citizens," Xifaras said.

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