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Athens News Agency: News in English, 08-06-23
CONTENTS
[01] Greece wants Balkans a European neighbourhood of peace
[01] Greece wants Balkans a European neighbourhood of peace
Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, speaking during the International
University's Conference in Thessaloniki, Macedonia, on Monday stressed
that Greece wants the Balkans to be a European neighbourhood of peace,
stability, development and progress.
Karamanlis noted that 4,000 Greek businesses are active in the region,
while 3,000 Greek bank branches are also operating. He also referred to
the International University's role in promoting cooperation between
the countries in the region.
The prime minister referred in turn to the unfavourable international
economic conjuncture -the price of oil was 26 dollars a barrel in 2003
and today it is reaching 140- the fiscal crisis in the United States,
which has conveyed its shockwaves to all over Europe, and to inflation
that is developing into the greatest problem worldwide.
"In an environment of intensifying competition, in an environment that
knows no borders, governments cannot act effectively, if they do not
take into consideration international factors. They must cooperate with
their political and economic partners, but above all with the
international organisations. They must consult each other so as to
regulate the rules of international trade, capital flows, protection
for the environment. They must shape conditions of extroversion so that
they can adjust themselves easier, speedier and more effectively to
global changes," he said.
Focusing on European developments and on Greece's position, Karamanlis
said "Greece is proceeding in the 21st century having its equal
presence in the European Union as a basis and pursuing the development
of relations of cooperation with all its neighbours. We believe that
the EU, despite the slackness of some of its members, is the force of
our common future. It is a force of change, not only for its
member-states, but for the entire continent as well. Its strategy
towards globalisation and the uncertainties that it entails, based on
the one hand on the Stability and Development Pact and on the other on
the Lisbon Strategy, guarantees a more secure and encouraging course in
the difficult times of the new century."
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