Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-01-18

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

CONTENTS

[01] Programme review to be concluded without new measures, PM Tsipras reaffirms

[02] Greek President Pavlopoulos and Italian counterpart Mattarella visit the Acropolis

[03] Greek annual inflation rate at 0.3 pct in Dec, Eurostat

[04] Air passenger traffic rose to record levels in 2016

[01] Programme review to be concluded without new measures, PM Tsipras reaffirms

He explained that the exit from the crisis is visible and on time, in 2018, adding that the efforts for the conclusion of the second programme review have been accelerated so that the access to the markets is feasible after the participation to the ECB quantitative easing programme.

He stressed that the people understand who is trying to pull the country out of crisis and who is blocking the country's recovery. "We are moving forward and we are committed that things will always get better for the country," he said and referring to main opposition, he said "even if that means that they will get worse for your own political plans."

"We have complied with the programme, being full aware of the difficulties, and we have met our targets, because we made the state work and not serve its friends," he said.

"We have achieved high absorption rates as regards the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) funds. We have combatted corruption. This is the way for further tax relief for the weakest categories of citizens," Tsipras noted.

Earlier on Wednesday, Tsipras stated that the Geneva conference will resume on Wednesday on a technical diplomatic level. The Greek government is in close contact with Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades, he said.

He spoke of harsh and painstaking efforts to find a solution for the benefit of the entire Cypriot people, without guarantees and the withdrawal of the Turkish occupation troops from Cyprus.

"We tried to create a climate of understanding both inside and outside the country," the prime minister said, noting the constructive role that Greece played in the negotiations, "without retreating from our fair positions."

He stressed that although the solution is not yet apparent, important progress has been made since maps were exchanged for the first time. He added that although differences still remain, the issues of guarantees and security issues were for the first time on the agenda and this is considered to be a great diplomatic success. The Greek prime minister also noted the active role of the EU, which is also a positive development.

"We continue without excessive optimism, but with prudency and with a low profile, without obsessions and fears, and I hope that we will have positive developments in this crucial issue," he said.

Tsipras stressed the importance of the stance of the other side, especially Turkey, adding that that it should put aside the aggressive rhetoric and work seriously and responsibly.

"We will always be on the side of the Cyprus people in order to find a fair solution within the framework of the UN decisions and the status of Cyprus as an EU member state," the prime minister stressed.

[02] Greek President Pavlopoulos and Italian counterpart Mattarella visit the Acropolis

During the visit Pavlopoulos made a special reference to Hadrian:

"Hadrian was one of the greatest emperors of Rome and, perhaps, the top one in terms of intellectual and cultural range. He was the first to disseminate in a meaningful way the Greek antiquity, the spirit and culture of Rome, to be delivered later in eternity. Hadrian rightly won the title of 'Benefactor of Athens'".

[03] Greek annual inflation rate at 0.3 pct in Dec, Eurostat

The EU executive's statistics service, in a report, said that the inflation rate in Greece was 0.4 pct in December 2015. In the Eurozone, the inflation rate was 1.1 pct in December, from 0.6 pct in November and 0.2 pct a year earlier. In the EU-28, the inflation rate was 1.2 pct in December, from 0.6 pct in November and 0.2 pct a year earlier.

Bulgaria (-0.5 pct), Ireland (-0.2 pct) and Romania (-0.1 pct) recorded negative inflation rates in December, while Estonia (2.4 pct), Belgium (2.2 pct), Czech Republic (2.1 pct) and Lithuania (2.1 pct) recorded the highest rates.

[04] Air passenger traffic rose to record levels in 2016

The number of passengers traveling in Greek airports in 2016 totaled 53,637,249, up 9.9 pct compared with 48,811,600 passengers in 2015. The number of flights in Greek airports totaled 461,161 last year, of which 189,710 domestic and 271,451 international, an increase of 3.8 pct from 2015 (+1.2 pct domestic and +5.7 pct international).

In December, passenger traffic in Greek airports jumped 14.6 pct to 2,180,053, of which domestic traffic grew 10.5 pct and international traffic rose 19.1 pct. The highest passenger traffic was recorded in the airports of Athens, Thessaloniki, Heraclio, Chania and Rhodes.

Passenger traffic in the Athens airport was 1,349,145, in Thessaloniki 422,999, in Heraclio 89,974, in Chania 74,658 and in Rhodes 60,975.

On a 12-month basis, the airports of Heraclio, Corfu and Paros recorded the biggest percentage increase.

Constantinos Lintzerakos, Civil Aviation Authority head, commenting on the figures said the record passenger traffic in 2016 was beneficial to the national economy and expressed his thanks to all staff, cooperating agencies and all those working in the air transport sector for their professionalism.

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