Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-12-22

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

CONTENTS

[01] ESM e-mail on clarifications sought by institutions now in Athens, gov't says

[02] Tsipras the 'prime minister of eternal austerity,' Mitsotakis tells ANA webTV

[03] Greek doctors help 67-year-old carry daughter's child as surrogate mum

[01] ESM e-mail on clarifications sought by institutions now in Athens, gov't says

The government said it was now in the process of doing this. A government official had earlier estimated that Greece's reply would offer assurances that the social welfare measures will not impact the programme targets, that the government is bound by its commitments under the programme and that this will be a one-off handout.

[02] Tsipras the 'prime minister of eternal austerity,' Mitsotakis tells ANA webTV

Mitsotakis said Tsipras was "the prime minister of eternal austerity," who had condemned the country to an endless spiral of further introversion and retreat. Noting that he had urged Tsipras to end the review in the best way possible from the start, Mitsotakis said that the prime minister "with an eye to his domestic audience," was passing more measures, with more taxes and cuts to pensions.

Greece's main opposition leader repeated his call for elections as soon as possible and also referred to the economic programme that ND presented at the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF). Greece needed a different fiscal policy mix with fewer taxes, Mitsotakis said, and a "tightening up" of the state sector. At the same time, he denied any plans for large-scale layoffs of public-sector staff, describing this claim as "sordid propaganda by the government".

He appeared confident that ND will win the next elections and said that the party will seek broader alliances within Parliament after the elections, even if ND is elected with a single-party majority. At the same time, he made clear that the party was not interested in pre-election collaboration or alliances.

Asked to comment on his first anniversary as ND's leader, Mitsotsakis stressed that ND had changed significantly over the last year, bringing in new faces and ideas and that its voice was once again being heard and believed by society.

[03] Greek doctors help 67-year-old carry daughter's child as surrogate mum

The baby girl was born last Tuesday, December 20, weighing one kilo and 20 grammes, and both baby and grandmother were reported to be in excellent health.

The woman is the oldest surrogate mother and grandmother in the world to carry a pregnancy for the specific ailment in the international literature, according to obstetrician-gynaecologist Constantine Pantos, the head of the "Genesis" clinic in Athens that supervised the procedure.

The pregnancy was carried to the 31st week, with the IVF and transfer of the embryo conducted by Pantos and his team with permission from judicial authorities, while the labour took place at the Gaia maternity clinic in Athens, with a team of specialist doctors attending.

Under Greek law, a court order is needed in order for an embryo created with genetic material from a couple to be implanted in a surrogate mother that is willing and able to carry the pregnancy. The couple must present the findings of medical examinations proving an inability to have children.

"For us, this case was yet another major scientific challenge and one more frontier we wanted to cross. Unique successes like this are, in any case, the reason why Greece has in recent years become the starting point of a dream for many sub-fertile couples from every corner of the world," Pantos said.

The head of the Athens Medical Association George Patoulis noted that this medical milestone was yet another proof of the excellent standard of Greek doctors, who were on the cutting edge worldwide.

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