Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 14-09-04

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

CONTENTS

[01] PM Samaras addresses NATO summit

[02] Tsipras urges SYRIZA's regional governors and mayors to meet new challenges

[01] PM Samaras addresses NATO summit

Samaras made a special reference to migrant flows from Afghanistan, highlighting the need to deal with the country's problems. He also urged the Afghan government to take all necessary measures to secure its borders and stem migrant flows.

Earlier in the afternoon, Samaras met with his Albanian counterpart Edi Rama on the sidelines of the NATO summit, in a meeting also attended by Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos and Defence Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos. Samaras said the Greek government was pleased with the fact that Albania was granted EU candidate status.

He also raised two important issues: firstly, the human rights of the Greek ethnic minority in Albania and the problems arising as a result of administrative reform in the country; secondly, the bilateral agreement to determine the sea borders between the two countries, which should be based on international law.

Samaras asked Rama to personally intervene in the issue of the Greek minority so that the problems in the region of Himara can be dealt with, while criticizing the nationalist reactions of the Chams. He also underlined that respecting human rights forms part of the EU accession process.

Rama, on his part, thanked the Greek premier for the country's support to Albania and, with respect to minority issues, said that he personally guaranteed the respect of human rights. He also assured the Greek side that there was no intention to harm the Greek minority. Moreover, Rama referred to the risks from a sharp rise of religious fundamentalism in the region and stressed the good cooperation between the police forces of the two countries in fighting crime.

In addition to two meetings on Afghanistan, the Greek prime minister is also scheduled to attend a meeting on the crisis in Ukraine and the dinner for heads of state and government on Thursday evening. On Friday morning at 11:00, he is scheduled to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

[02] Tsipras urges SYRIZA's regional governors and mayors to meet new challenges

Tsipras, during a meeting with the regional governors and mayors supported by SYRIZA, noted that municipalities and regional governments were unable to assume their traditional role, let alone to meet the new challenges and the unprecedented needs that have resulted from the crisis.

Tsipras presented SYRIZA's proposal for the local governments and elaborated on the four pillars it should be based on: a radical change in the structure and operation of local government authorities; the welfare state and the role of the local administration in the productive reconstruction of the country; the democratic restructuring, the efficiency and the overcoming of bureaucracy; and finally the building of a new relationship of trust between the state and the citizens.

The regional governors and mayors referred to the problems, mainly financial and institutional ones, that their regions and cities are faced with.

Finally, ahead of the presentation of SYRIZA's policy proposals at the Thessaloniki International Fair, the meeting focused on the role of the local administration as a main pillar of the productive reconstruction of the country.

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