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Athens News Agency: News in English, 11-11-03
CONTENTS
[01] PM's statement after Cannes meeting
[02] FinMin: Greece's place in euro a historic conquest
[01] PM's statement after Cannes meeting
Cannes (AMNA/G. Milionis) -- Greek prime minister George Papandreou
said that the Greek people have the "wisdom and maturity" to take the
correct decisions, speaking in the first hours of Thursday in Cannes,
where he held talks with French president Nicolas Sarkozy and German
Chancellor Angela Merkel and other European officials on the sidelines
of a G20 meeting and informed them of his decision to call a referendum.
"I consider that the Greek people have the wisdom and knowledge to
take the right decisions that will guarantee our country's steady
participation in the eurozone," Papandreou said.amna
"On October 26-27, in Brussels (eurozone summit), we took collective
decisions, which are to the benefit of both our country and the eurozone,
and which contribute to reduction of the debt, lightening the burden
on the Greek people, the country's developmental course, and major
structural changes," Papandreou said.
[02] FinMin: Greece's place in euro a historic conquest
AMNA--Greek finance minister and government vice president Evangelos
Venizelos stressed in the early hours of Thursday that Greece's position
in the euro is a historic conquest of the country that no one can put
into dispute and a conquest of the Greek people that cannot be made
dependent on a referendum, in a statement upon his return to Athens at
4:45 a.m. from Cannes, where he and prime minister George Papandreou
had talks with French president Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor
Angela Merkel on the sidelines of a G20 meeting.amna
In an apparent break from Papandreou's surprise announcement on Monday
night that he intends to call a referendum on a second bailout loan
agreed at the eurogroup summit, which has drawn increasing fire from
his ruling PASOK party as well as all the opposition parties with calls
for early elections or the creation of a national unity or national
salvation government, Venizelos said: "Greece's position in the euro is
a historic conquest of the country that no one can put into dispute. It
is a conquest of the Greek people that cannot be made dependent on
a referendum."
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