Athens News Agency: News in English, 00-06-23

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

CONTENTS

[01] Simitis, Prodi address event on European challenges

[02] Weather Forecast-Saturday

[03] Stock Market-Close

[01] Simitis, Prodi address event on European challenges

European Commission President Romano Prodi and Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis were both guest speakers at an event organised by Athens University on Friday, which focused on Greece within the EMU, the challenges within Europe, the Greek economy and its adoption of the euro.

Simitis placed particular emphasis on why he disagreed with Greece's "eurosceptics" and the argument that greater involvement in Europe meant surrendering Greece's national identity.

According to the prime minister, those who said that "international solutions, international cooperation and unification with Europe in more and more sectors means a loss of our nation's existence," have forgotten that "the nation" has existed without the "nation-state".

On his part, Romano Prodi described Greece's entry into EMU as an historic decision and lauded the Greek government for its great efforts to achieve this outcome.

Prodi recounted the steps that Greece had had to take (after a long period of foreign and domestic imbalances) to arrive at this point, the radically changed performance of the Greek economy that had transformed today's Greece into a country with significant potential.

[02] Weather Forecast-Saturday

Sunny weather is forecast throughout the country on Saturday, turning to scattered cloud on the mainland from late afternoon. Winds will be northwesterly, light to moderate.

[03] Stock Market-Close

The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) ended lower on Friday, remaining under pressure for the fifth consecutive session as the market stayed below an earlier support level of 4,200 points.

The ASE's general share index ended at 4,145.76 points, down 1.13 percent. Turnover was light at 96 billion drachmas.

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