Subject: Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-03-01 From: "HR-Net News Distribution Manager" CONTENTS [01] Tsipras: 'Perfectly feasible' to complete program review by next Eurogroup [02] Ministers' meeting with mission chiefs on all issues underway [03] Defence minister says he's briefed NATO counterparts on Turkish provocations --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [01] Tsipras: 'Perfectly feasible' to complete program review by next Eurogroup It is "perfectly feasible" for Greece to complete the second program review with its lenders on a technical level in time for the next Eurogroup meeting on March 23, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Wednesday, during a joint press conference with Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat at the Maximos Mansion. "We are in the phase of negotiations. It is perfectly feasible to complete the review at a technical level by the next Eurogroup on March 23. We're working hard so that on March 23 the review will be filly completed," Tsipras said, responded to a question by Athens-Macedonian News Agency. Asked the same question, Muscat said the Greek government has made significant progress and many colleagues in Europe share the opinion that with the current government there is a serious effort to do things right. Muscat is on official visit to Athens as part of his whirlwind tour of six European capitals to discuss migration, security and the EU's economy. [02] Ministers' meeting with mission chiefs on all issues underway A government team is meeting with the institutions' mission chiefs in Athens on Wednesday and all issues are expected to be included in the agenda, a government source said. On the Greek side, the meeting includes Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos, Labour Minister Efi Achtsioglou and Alternate Finance Minister George Chouliarakis. Earlier, the mission chiefs met with representatives of the Hellenic Bank Association (HBA) to discuss mainly non-performing loans and electronic auctions. Speaking to journalists after the meeting, a banking official said the program review must be completed soon because uncertainty has returned in the first two months of 2017, just when stability had returned at the last quarter of 2016. [03] Defence minister says he's briefed NATO counterparts on Turkish provocations Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said on Wednesday he has briefed his counterparts in NATO about Turkey's recent provocations in the Aegean. Speaking at a press conference announcing the return on public television of a show on the Greek Armed Forces, Kammenos said there's "an automatic briefing" at a foreign ministry level and that he he informed NATO's defence ministers on the issue during a recent meeting and intends to do the same with his EU counterparts on their meeting on Monday. "The biggest weapon against Turkish propaganda of a 'hybrid war' is the truth. We continue our work. The best answer is to do our job well and we won't do them the favour of getting carried away," he said. Kammenos also said Greece's allies have a clear picture of the situation because of their presence in the Aegean. "A frigate has an operational picture of what exactly is happening," he said, adding that "the international public opinion has changed" on the issue of Turkey's aggression.