Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-01-13

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

CONTENTS

[01] Italian President Mattarella to pay two-day official visit to Greece

[02] Migration Min Mouzalas meets Italian Interior Min Minnitti on refugee issue

[03] Draft law on Greece-Egypt cooperation in tourism voted in parliament

[04] ND's Koumoutsakos: Bad timing for reintroduction of so-called grey zones by Turkey

[05] Council of State rules TV licences tender must be repeated as soon as possible

[06] OTE Group" takes off" with 1.3 bln euros investment programe

[01] Italian President Mattarella to pay two-day official visit to Greece

[02] Migration Min Mouzalas meets Italian Interior Min Minnitti on refugee issue

"In our meeting we focused on the migration flows," Mouzalas said. "We also agreed that the implementation of the EU-Turkey agreement on the refugee issue should be continued," he added.

"Both countries complain that Europe failed to act on its promises, since in 2016, the relocation from Greece and Italy to the other member countries did not exceed 15,000".

The minister said that the action plan agreed with the European Union provided for 2,000 relocations every thirty days, but there have been no results so far.

On the revision of the Dublin Regulation, the Minister stressed that the main target is to help the first entry countries so as not the bear again the whole burden adding that the Italian government shares the same view.

Minnitti and Mouzalas also stressed the need to create a European mandatory repatriation mechanism to overcome the specific difficulties of each member state and be able to repatriate migrants from various African and Asian countries. "The bilateral agreements must become European agreements," said Mouzalas, "offering for example, in Africa or Asia, assistance in the education sector."

[03] Draft law on Greece-Egypt cooperation in tourism voted in parliament

The memorandum of understanding was voted on February 21, 2016 in Cairo.

The MoU sets the framework for specific actions aiming at increasing tourism in Greece and Egypt and defines the fields of the bilateral tourism cooperation.

Kountoura stressed that Egypt is one of the strategic markets of priority.

She also noted that Greece has the opportunity to become the first destination of Egyptian tourists 365 days a year, with significant benefits to the strengthening of tourist flows and revenue, as the number of high income Egyptians travelling abroad each year is estimated at about 5 million.

Kountoura also stressed that the strengthening of bilateral tourism relations in the region is a strategic choice, and especially for the promotion of stability and cooperation in the region of Eastern Mediterranean while underlining its role as a powerful attraction pole of world tourism.

[04] ND's Koumoutsakos: Bad timing for reintroduction of so-called grey zones by Turkey

"The Greek government" said Koumoutsakos, "must be very careful; an essential coordination of all ministries is necessary to serve the national interests of the country in the best possible way."

Referring to the developments in the Cyprus issue, Koumoutsakos said that ND supports Cyprus president Nicos Anastassiades' stance and efforts from the very first minute.

[05] Council of State rules TV licences tender must be repeated as soon as possible

The ruling reaffirms the adamant position of the court legislation that the up to date operation of the TV stations with consecutive extension of their legal operation is illegal and against the constituition, so legality must be restored and the competition be swiftly repeated.

The Council of State does not rule all the other regulations referring to the number of the licences and the starting price as unconstitutional but considers unconstitutional the conduction of the tender by the minister.

[06] OTE Group" takes off" with 1.3 bln euros investment programe

In the mobile telephony, OTE achieved a 93 pct population coverage in its 4G network last year, remaining top and with a large difference from competition. OTE Group significantly raised its population coverage in the technology LTD Advanced (LTE-A) 4G+ network to more than 82 pct, offering a unique mobile Internet experience. Additionally, by acquiring a new frequency it offered Internet speed up to 500 Mbps, the first in Greece and one of the first in the world. OTE Group's mobile telephony network obtained a "Best in Test" certification from P3 Communications.

In the fixed telephony business, OTE Group continued a project of replacing an existing copper network with fiber optics, offering Internet speeds up to 50 Mbps to more consumers, with a population coverage of 46 pct. Currently, more than 2.0 million households and enterprises have access to speed of up to 50 Mbps. Additionally, with a new COSMOTE Home Speed Booster service, combining the speed of broadband connection with 3G and 4G networks' speed through Hybrid Access technology, OTE Group offers faster Internet with speed of up to 100 Mbps.

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