Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-04-28

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

CONTENTS

[01] Moscovici: Greece can legislate for contingency 'mechanism' rather than detailed measures

[02] Greece needs debt relief and must continue reforms, says U.S. ambassador

[03] Government's policies are 'sinking the economy', says ND spokesman

[04] Greek air force aircraft to fly to Israel on Saturday to receive Holy Fire

[05] Turkish planes carried out 29 violations of Greek air space on Thursday

[01] Moscovici: Greece can legislate for contingency 'mechanism' rather than detailed measures

"In our view, it is not necessary to have a precise and detailed set of measures but a mechanism that shows precisely how such measures will be taken if this is judged necessary," Moscovici said. He noted that the proposals submitted by the Greek side so far were moving "in this direction" and "deserved to be looked at".

The Commissioner said that there was still work to be done in order for an agreement to be clinched but that this "can and must be completed quickly".

Referring to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), he said that the institutions representing Greece's lenders must have a "common view" but that this must not violate the law in Greece. "We want the IMF," Moscovici pointed out, but the mechanism had to be "acceptable" to the Greek side and compatible with Greek laws.

The European institutions considered that the first package of measures, on which the two sides were very close to agreement, would be sufficient for Greece to achieve the primary surplus targets in 2018, he added.

The Commissioner said the progress made up until now was of the "best quality" achieved in the "previous months and even years" and that it was misplaced to create an impression of crisis.

"We are 99 percent there on the first package. As for the contingency mechanism, which is in our view is not really justified by data, but politically necessary, let's work on that," he said.

The Commissioner said that the deal should "on no account wait until July" and that no one would gain by a delay. He noted, however, that the Eurogroup was the right place for seeking a solution regarding an automatic mechanism and that it was up to Eurogroup President Jeroen Djisselbloem to decide when an extraordinary Eurogroup should be convened.

The important thing was to have conditions that allowed such a meeting to yield results, he added.

[02] Greece needs debt relief and must continue reforms, says U.S. ambassador

"The U.S. position has not changed. We have stated repeatedly that Greece needs significant debt relief and must continue structural reforms that will return Greece to growth. We have also stated repeatedly our support for the IMF's call for Greeks to carry out structural reforms and for meaningful debt relief," Pearce said.

"We continue to encourage Europe, the IMF, and Greece to accelerate their efforts to conclude the review and agree on meaningful debt relief for Greece in a timely manner," he added.

[03] Government's policies are 'sinking the economy', says ND spokesman

"The government's incompetence and unreliability is fueling the excessive demands made by the IMF. Because of this, the cost of the failed so-called 'tough' negotiation skyrocketed to 5.4 plus 3.6 billion euros," Giorgos Koumoutsakos said. "All this is their responsibility. It is Tsipras' responsibility."

[04] Greek air force aircraft to fly to Israel on Saturday to receive Holy Fire

The Empraer-209 will take off from Elefsina air base with representatives of the government and of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Athens onboard. On its return from Israel at the Athens International Airport, the Holy Fire will be received officially by an army contingent.

[05] Turkish planes carried out 29 violations of Greek air space on Thursday

Two groups of Turkish aircraft, a formation of six planes and a formation of two planes, entered the Athens Flight Information Region (FIR) without submitting flight plans, as did a CN-235 nautical cooperation plane. There were five infringements of air traffic rules in the Athens FIR that turned into 29 violations of Greek air space in the northeastern, central and southeastern Aegean.

In each case, the Turkish planes were intercepted and identified by Greek fighter planes, while in one case the interception evolved into an engagement. Two of the Turkish aircraft were armed.

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