Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-03-05

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

CONTENTS

[01] Greece - FYROM - Albanian extremists

[02] Greece - Iran - Armenia - FMs to meet

[03] US envoy - Washington - Greek-US relations

[04] ASE opening: Equity prices buoyant, new indices

[01] Greece - FYROM - Albanian extremists

Greece is following the activities of Albanian terrorist groups in Kosovo and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) with grave concern, the Greek foreign ministry announced on Monday, and wishes to contribute to settling the crisis in every possible way.

Foreign ministry spokesman Papagiotis Beglitis said that Foreign Minister George Papandreou, currently in Vienna for an official visit to Austria, was constantly in touch with officials in FYROM and with the EU's Swedish presidency and was closely monitoring developments.

"We will contribute in every way and wish to give every kind of assistance to the neighbouring country (FYROM)," Beglitis said.

Stressing Greece's support for territorial integrity and security in the region, Beglitis said the international community should accord the matter the due seriousness and should send a clear message that uncontrollable situations would not be tolerated.

The government in Skopje, he added, had been in touch with Athens and asked for help in dealing with the actions of Albanian extremists. Skopje had also asked for the UN Security Council to be convened.

The spokesman said that Greece was in favour of the full implementation of resolution 1244, because instability in the region undermined territorial integrity and affected Greece's interests as well.

In addition, he said, Greece was also in favour of fully activating the Kosovo peace-keeping force KFOR, and always reiterates its support for stability and for guaranteeing FYROM's borders in talks with EU and NATO officials. According to Beglitis, this was also one of the key issues discussed by Papandreou in his recent meeting with US Secretary of State Colin Powell on the sidelines of a NATO foreign ministers' meeting.

[02] Greece - Iran - Armenia - FMs to meet

Foreign Minister George Papandreou is to meet his Iranian and Armenian counterparts in Athens during the coming week, both separately and together.

A trilateral meeting between Papandreou, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharraziand Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan is scheduled for Thursday and will chiefly deal with economic cooperation.

On Wednesday, meanwhile, Papandreou will have one-on-one talks with Kharrazi to discuss bilateral relations, foreign policy and education, Iran's relations with the European Union, the Cyprus problem, the situation in the Balkans and the Middle East and developments in the Caucasus.

[03] US envoy - Washington - Greek-US relations

WASHINGTON (ANA - A. Ellis) The role of the Greek-American community as a bridge between Greece and the USA was praised by US Ambassador to Greece Nicholas Burns on Monday, while speaking at an event at the American Hellenic Institute in Washington.

Burns said he was proud to have served in Greece for three-plus years, saying that he had come to love Greece and its inhabitants, who had made him feel welcome even in the most difficult times, such as the 1999 war in Yugoslavia.

The US envoy noted that Greece was one of the few allies that had stood by America in every crisis and war of the last two centuries, while he pointed out that at this time, American and Greek soldiers were serving side by side in Kosovo.

Burns expressed a wish for peace and unity in Cyprus and praised the Greek government's initiative for rapprochement with Turkey, which he said had led to a sharp increase in bilateral trade and tourism.

Burns was presented to the gathering by AHI founder Evgenios Rossidis, who hailed the role of the US ambassador in upgrading Greece's importance in US foreign policy planning. Rossidis noted that no member of a US government had visited Greece between 1984 and 1997, while in the last three years it had been visited by President Bill Clinton, a US Secretary of State, and other government ministers.

At an earlier AHI meeting, Burns had made a brief presentation regarding Greek-American relations and the activities of the US Embassy in Athens.

[04] ASE opening: Equity prices buoyant, new indices

Equity prices gained upward momentum at the opening of trading Monday on the Athens Stock Exchange, with the general index up 0.76 percent at 3,178.81 points and turnover at 11.3 million euro.

Monday is also the first day that 10 new indices were introduced on the Athens bourse, raising the number of market indices to 16, which with improvements to the old indices should help provide a more accurate and reliable picture of the market.

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