Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-01-26

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

CONTENTS

[01] Farmers to decide upon their further mobilisations on Tuesday

[02] Stability cannot exist without a new pension system, says FinMin Tsakalotos

[01] Farmers to decide upon their further mobilisations on Tuesday

Farmers will block roads for two hours (12:00-14:00) as well as Greece's borders with Bulgaria, FYROM and Albania.

However, yesterday they opened the customs offices in northern Greece near the borders with Bulgaria. "The indefinite closure of the customs offices still applies as we want to be consistent with what we say, but when we see that there is traffic congestion, we will open them to avoid further trouble," a farmer told ANA-MPA.

Meanwhile, the Panhellenic Seamen's Federation (PNO) announced a new 48-hour seamen's strike on January 27-28.

PNO also decided to participate in the strike called by the General Confederation of Employees of Greece (GSEE) on February 4, with the prospect of escalating labour action when the draft bill on the social security reforms is tabled in Parliament.

[02] Stability cannot exist without a new pension system, says FinMin Tsakalotos

Tsakalotos pointed out that he has a duty as a Finance Minister to contribute to a stable economy through income redistribution and widely expanded tax base. He added that in his recent meetings with the six finance ministers of the eurozone at the Eurogroup, he told them that Greece cannot tolerate any further reduction in pensions, as they have already been cut eleven times.

"Pensions in Greece often correspond to family income," he explained to his counterparts, because an entire family in Greece may live on a pension.

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