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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-02-15Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] German FM spokesman favors Greek FM's presence at Visegrad group meetingBERLIN (ANA-MPA / F. Karaviti) – It would be "the right approach" to include the Greek foreign minister in the meeting of the Visegrad Group countries in Prague next week, the German foreign ministry spokesman said on Monday.The group is made up of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, and on Monday participants discussed measures on guarding the external borders of the EU in view of the ongoing refugee and migrant crisis. "We hear – and I hope it's so – that in the meeting of the Visegrad Group the Greek foreign minister will be present. That would be, in our view, exactly the correct approach - to talk with those who are mostly burdened and not for them, or bypassing them," foreign ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer said during a regular press briefing. Asked to comment on an article by German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, in which he opposed the possibility of Greece being excluded from the Schengen zone, Schaefer said: "I understood Sigmar Gabriel's article as a very strong advocacy for European solutions - for European rather than national solutions. And this is a fundamental belief of the government." [02] Privatization agency denies reports on new concession deal for Athens airportThe head of Greece's privatization agency (HRADF) on Monday dismissed media reports claiming the agency has started negotiating a 20-year extension of the concession agreement with the managing company, Athens International Airport S.A. (AIA), which will be paid for by the state, saying the reports "have no connection with reality.""Everything that is being written and said about the Eleftherios Venizelos Airport have no connection to reality," Stergios Pitsiorlas said in a press release, adding that HRADF has simply requested the opening of talks to extend the concession rights with the AIA. He also noted that the procedure has not even started yet. AIA was established in 1996 in order to build, maintain and operate the airport on a 30-year concession. The current shareholders of AIA are the Greek State (25%), HRADF (30%), the Canadian company AviAlliance GmbH (26.7% plus 8 shares), Canada-based AviAlliance Capital GmbH (13.3%) and the Copelouzos Group (5% minus 8 shares). In addition, the Greek State has also transferred to HRADF the right to extend the existing concession by 20 extra years (until 2046). [03] Greek FM Kotzias meets counterparts of Cyprus, LebanonGreek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias met in Brussels, on the margins of Monday's meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, with the foreign ministers of Cyprus and Lebanon, Ioannis Kasoulides and Gebran Bassil, respectively.This first such trilateral meeting was dominated by issues of regional and international interest, while special emphasis was put on the refugee crisis, terrorism and the peace process in the wider Middle East. The talks looked at the prospects for building trilateral cooperation in the economic and trade sectors, as well as in the sectors of energy, security and culture. Finally, Kotzias and Kasoulides agreed to carry out a joint visit to Lebanon in the near future. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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