Athens News Agency: News in English, 05-03-02

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

CONTENTS

[01] PM Karamanlis meets with Croatian premier

[02] Homes evacuated in Lavara, Evros after river floods its banks

[03] Mild fiscal adjustment to continue, Greek FinMin says

[04] Main opposition PASOK readies for 4-day party congress; 5,898 delegates to attend

[01] PM Karamanlis meets with Croatian premier

"I had a particularly useful meeting with Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, whom I thanked for the warm reception we were given," Karamanlis said after the meeting.

"We conducted a brief overview of our bilateral relations. I must emphasise that on a political level our bilateral relations are excellent, a fact that was also confirmed during today's meeting. We agreed to cooperate even more closely so that our economic relations may be on a par with our political relations," Karamanlis added.

Zagreb was the first stop on Karamanlis' Balkan tour. "It is absolutely natural - and I want to emphasise that - for the starting point of our tour to be Zagreb. Greece's strategic aim is to promote the European prospects of Southeast European countries, so that we can transform our region from a 'powder keg', as it was once called, to a European neighbourhood," Karamanlis said. He also emphasised that Greece has and will continue to support Croatia's EU accession efforts. "Our country's stance is that cooperation with international courts is always necessary in order to maintain international legality. We must reward this cooperation," Karamanlis added.

On March 17, it will be decided whether Croatia has fulfilled the criteria necessary for accession talks to begin.

Additionally, the two political leaders also discussed developments in the Balkans, with particular emphasis on Kosovo. Karamanlis noted that Greece, as an EU and NATO member, as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council as well as in view of its assumption of the presidency of the Inter-Balkan Cooperation in May, is working closely with countries in the region.

[02] Homes evacuated in Lavara, Evros after river floods its banks

The army, the fire department and volunteers are currently trying to help as many local residents as they can, since several people are refusing to abandon their homes and property.

Earlier in the day, two elderly women trapped by floodwater were rescued in a successful operation mounted by emergency services, which were also helping residents remove household effects from homes at risk from the encroaching water and trying to prevent water reaching other homes in the area.

Trains through the district also stopped running after the railway tracks were flooded.

A meeting of all local bodies and services involved was held at Lavara on Wednesday afternoon, chaired by Eastern Macedonia-Thrace Regional Authority general secretary Mihalis Angelopoulos.

One of the proposals considered was that emergency services should enlist the aid of the army in artificially breaching the Evros River's embankment near Mandra and redirect the water that has flooded Lavara back into the River via a nearby stream in order to avoid the flooding of more houses in the area.

On Monday, 800 hectares of agricultural land were flooded after embankments gave way at Vyssa. Authorities say that continued snowfall in the area throughout Wednesday morning, meanwhile, has made the situation critical.

[03] Mild fiscal adjustment to continue, Greek FinMin says

Speaking to reporters, Alogoskoufis presented a review of the government's economic policy in its first year in office as well as its prospects.

The Greek minister said a mild fiscal adjustment would continue in the next few years and announced several privatisations in the current year.

Alogoskoufis stressed that the government faced a difficult situation, an 'economic derailment', as he said, that could have had painful consequences to the economy and the Greek society.

He stressed that the government had a clear and specific target, namely, to bring its fiscal situation under control and to promote a closer cooperation between the private and the public sector in major projects around the country.

Alogoskoufis said the government had a clear privatisation programme, including a restructuring of state-run enterprises and making better use of public real estate assets based on the public sector's interest.

He said that under the government's privatisation plan, the public sector's share in the economy could fall by 1.0 percent of GDP over the next five years.

Commenting on the country's pension and labour systems, Alogoskoufis said that both issues should be solved on consensus. Existing laws are implemented but they have weaknesses on the funding arm, he said, adding that the government would move cautiously towards resolving these issues and intervening when necessary.

The Greek minister reiterated the government's pledge to pay retroactive rebates from LAFKA pension supplementary contributions to pensioners if there was a final judicial decision in favor of pensioners.

[04] Main opposition PASOK readies for 4-day party congress; 5,898 delegates to attend

"We want it to transform and ratify our political positions, the new structure of an open participatory party ... so we can operate as a consistent opposition to the New Democracy government; so that tomorrow we are ready for a new government," spokesman Nikos Athanassakis said.

He added that 1,250 affiliated groups of members and supporters have conveyed their conclusions ahead of the four-day congress, which will be inaugurated with an address by former foreign minister and PASOK leader George Papandreou. An address by the party's secretary, election of a party presidium and addresses by foreign dignitaries will follow.

Athanassakis said six �round-table' discussion groups will focus, separately, on the following issues: the European constitution; schools open to society; a society of citizens and participatory democracy; young peoples' employment in a changing society; immigration and illegal trafficking of migrants, as well as European socialist parties in the 21st century: challenges and prospects.

Finally, the party spokesman said delegates will number 5,898, with men making up 69 percent and women the remainder. Elected delegates number 4,484 (64 percent men, 36 percent women), of whom 35 percent have been elected in the previous party congresses, 1999 and 2001. The remaining 65 percent of delegates were elected for the first time to a PASOK congress.

The congress ends on Sunday.

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