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Sunday, 22 December 2024
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The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 00-04-11The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Hellenic Radio (ERA) <ert.ntua.gr/>CONTENTSNEWS IN ENGLISH (THE VOICE OF GREECE - Translators Dpt.) [01] Developments in Greece after Sunday's electionsOn his way out of the presidential mansion yesterday, prime minister Kostas Simitis said that the new government of Pasok would concentrate on strengthening the social state and boosting employment.Earlier, Mr Simitis had received a mandate to form a new government from the president of the republic Konstantinos Stefanopoulos. The prime minister stressed that renewal and continuation would be the main characteristics of the new government and announced that he would wait for a few days, for individual ballots to be counted, before making a decision over the composition of the new government. Meanwhile, the final result of Sunday's general elections showed a difference of 1% between the main parties of Pasok and the New Democracy. According to the latest results of the interior ministry, in the 99.9% of the electorate, Pasok gathers 43.79%, the ND 42.74%, the Greek communist party 5.52 and the coalition of the left wing and progress 3.20. In the new parliament that will meet as a body on April 20th, Pasok will have a parliamentary majority of 158 seats, the New Democracy party 125, the Greek communist party 11, and the Coalition of the Left Wing and Progress 6. The Democratic Social Movement will not be represented in the new parliament, as it has only won a rough 3% of the votes. From the votes counted in the first constituency of Athens, the following candidates are elected so far: Pasok: George Papandreou, Fotini Genimata, Kostas Skandalidis, Yannos Papantoniou, Christos Papoutsis, Nasos Alevras, Gerasimos Arsenis and Stefanos Manikas. New Democracy party: Dora Bakogianni, George Alogoskoufis, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, Stefanos Manos, George Voulgarakis, Alexandros Lykourezos, Maria Yannakou, Nikitas Kaklamanis and Anna Psarouda-Benaki. Greek communist party: Liana Kanelli. Coalition of the Left Wing and Progress: Nikos Konstantopoulos. The following candidates are elected in the second constituency of Athens: Pasok: Vaso Papandreou, Apostolos Kaklamanis, Andreas Loverdos, Eleni-Maria Apostolaki, Eleni Kourkoula, Kostas Gitonas, Christos Protoppapas, Miltiadis Papaioannou, Kimon Koulouris, Sofia Sakorafa, Nora Katseli, Tasos Mantelis, Thanos Askitis, Vasilis Kontogiannopoulos, George Daskalakis George Anomeritis, Tilemahos Chytiris and Theodoros Katsanevas. New Democracy: Konstantinos Mitsotakis, Tzannis Tzannetakis, Panagiotis Panagiotopoulos, Evangelos Meimarakis, Vyron Polydoras, Mihail Liapis, Fani Palli-Petralia, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, Panagiotis Kammenos, George Karatzaferis, Theodoros Kasimis, Gerasimos Giakoumatos, Katerina Papakosta- Sidiropoulou, Apostolos Andreoulakos and Kostas Karras. Greek communist party: Aleka Papariga, Orestis Kolozof and Antonis Skylakos. Coalition of the Left Wing and Progress: Maria Damanaki and Fotis Kouvelis. According to a relative communique of the American president Bill Clinton, the election results of April 9th, proved that a broad consensus exists concerning the way Greece chose for its domestic economic prosperity and a more complete incorporation to the European Union, for a leading role in the construction of stability in the Balkans and S.E. Europe, for better relations with turkey and progress in the just and permanent settlement of the Cyprus issue. The American president reiterates that he will continue supporting and cooperating with Greece in the specific issues and in other sectors, while through his spokesman at the White House congratulated the New Democracy party leader as well on his good pre-election campaign. The French president Jacques Chirak sent a cable of congratulations to the Greek prime minister Kostas Simitis on his victory in the recent elections, wishing Mr Simitis the best for his government success, at a time Greece is preparing to materialize the major goal of its accession to the Euro. Mr Chirak added that he was convinced that the action plan Mr Simitis will follow would contribute decisively, as it has happened so far, to the strengthening of the traditional bonds of friendship between the two countries. Yet the victory of Pasok in Sunday's elections was also hailed by a number of other French politicians, while from Strassbourg, the deputies of the European Socialist Party have also expressed satisfaction over Pasok's victory. The Albanian prime minister Ilir Meta is also among the leaders who sent congratulatory messages in the last few hours. Mr Meta is stressing that the victory of Pasok in the elections confirms Mr Simitis' correct policy, also pointing out that he is convinced that under Mr Simitis' leadership the life of the Greek people and thousands of Albanians working in Greece will meet constant progress and improvement. The president of the republic of Cyprus Glafkos Kliridis congratulated Mr Simitis during a telephone conversation they had this morning. [02] The European Commission's report on Greek economyThe European Commission is giving a distinction of merit to the Greek economy with the assessment report on the course of the European economy in 2000 - 2001. The European Commission is expressing satisfaction at the fact that the development prospects of the economies of the 15 EU member countries will be clearly improved and in 2000 will most probably range around 3.5% of the average community GDP. In particular, the European Commission estimates that the growth rates, as well as the curtailment of the fiscal deficit of Greece will be clearly at a higher level than the Commission's last year forecast. The Commission's assessment on the other indexes of the Greek economy are positive and the achievement of the criteria set by the Maastricht Treaty for Greece's accession to the Euro is also confirmed. European Union sources in Brussels, have stressed that fiscal discipline is imperative in Greece for the next few years and infrastructure measures to further reduce inflation ought to be speeded up as well.[03] Glafkos Kliridis and Tony Blair met in LondonThe Cypriot president Glafkos Kliridis met in London with the British prime minister Tony Blair and with Britain's special envoy for Cyprus Sir David Hanney. The object of the talks was the third round of proximity talks on Cyprus that will open next month. At he end of the meeting with Mr Blair, the Cypriot president stated among other things that the Cyprus issue was examined in depth and concluded to the fact that there were many ways the situation could be dealt with. Mr Kliridis added that the discussion with Mr Blair focused mainly on what Britain could do so that talks may proceed and negotiations may be held. The Cypriot president concluded by saying that the British prime minister's stand on the issue was extremely positive.[04] EU-Turkey Association Council meets in BrusselsEu-Turkey Association Council meeiting in Brussels. The Turkish foreign minister Ismail Cem will attend the meeting. The Greek foreign minister George Papandreou appeared satisfied at the context of the common stand his 15 EU counterparts endorsed in Brussels. Mr Papandreou stated that the resumption and the transfer of the Helsinki European Council conclusions as regards the efforts for a Cyprus settlement, the principle of a peaceful settlement of border differences by the international court at The Hague, as well as the formation of a partnership relation for Turkey's accession, have been achieved.The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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