The full text of the agreement achieved between GREECE and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) on Tuesday was made public on ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com |
How the world sees Greece
Wednesday, June 13, 2018
IMF to stay out of GREEK funding
The Dutch head of the council of senior eurozone finance ministry officials stated that the IMF will be involved in the GREEK program in some way, and if ...
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Denver GREEK Festival 2018
Follow this story to get email or text alerts from KDVR when there is a future article following this storyline. Filed in: Everyday. Suggest a correction. × ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT kdvr.com |
Greek PM Alexis Tsipras interview on ERT TV (watch live)
He is expected to respond to Macedonian name dispute issue
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT en.protothema.gr |
Macedonia president rejects plan to change its name
President Gjordje Ivanov says he will not sign deal, as Greek leader faces wrath at home Macedonia’s president said on Wednesday he would not sign a landmark deal reached with Greece on changing his country’s name, dashing hopes of a swift end to a diplomatic dispute that has blocked its bid to join the European Union and Nato. In Greece, the prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, faced a barrage of criticism and the prospect of a no-confidence vote against his government as he and Macedonian prime minister Zoran Zaev announced the accord late on Tuesday. Related: Macedonia agrees to new name after 27-year dispute with Greece Related: No bailout funds for Greece as eurozone finance chiefs fail to agree deal WHAT IS AUSTERITY? Continue reading...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.theguardian.com |
A Big, Fat Greek Gift: Surfing and Snowboarding in Greece
Yes, like anywhere on Earth near the mountains and sea, Greece definitely has its days for riding snow and waves. Swiss native Roman Meister found that out when he put together this cool little adventure flick about finding both. And Roman and his friends ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.theinertia.com |
UNHCR GREECE Factsheet
This month 2,900 people arrived by sea and 1,500 by land. Despite the fewer arrivals, the increased arrivals of April and the lack of sufficient ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT reliefweb.int |
FYROM’s President Won’t Sign off on Name Deal
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — FYROM’s President Gjorge Ivanov says he will not sign off on a new deal with neighboring Greece to end a decades-long […] The post FYROM’s President Won’t Sign off on Name Deal appeared first on The National Herald.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.thenationalherald.com |
The Full Text of the Greece-FYROM Agreement (Pdf)
In a compromise deal to end a 26-year dispute, Greece’s anti-nationalist Radical Left Prime Minister and Radical Left SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras – minus his […] The post The Full Text of the Greece-FYROM Agreement (Pdf) appeared first on The National Herald.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.thenationalherald.com |
Name change deal with Greece to be blocked by Macedonia’s president
Macedonia’s president has said he will not approve a historic deal with Greece that would change his country’s name. President Gjorge Ivanov said the agreement, which would rename Macedonia as the Republic of North Macedonia, gave too many concessions ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.irishtimes.com |
After Macedonia deal, GREECE and Russia call for Cyprus solution
Referring to the name deal reached between GREECE and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (Fyrom), Kotzias said it solved a problem that ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT cyprus-mail.com |
GREEK-Themed Short Film Eleftheromania Wins Prestigious Nick Mirkopoulos Canadian Content ...
A short film about GREEK prisoners at Auschwitz has won the support of the prestigious Nick Mirkopoulos Canadian Content Initiative, a Cinespace Film ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.pappaspost.com |
Now Let’s Reopen Cyprus Issue, Says Greek FM
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias (L) with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. The stalemate over Cyprus should be resolved, Greece and Russia said on Wednesday, a day after historic steps were taken to end the Athens/Skopje ‘Macedonia’ name dispute.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com |
More Drug Addicts Seeking Help, Greek Report Says
More drug addicts are seeking treatment as fatalities due to narcotics use falls, a Greek report this week has claimed. The Greek Documentation and Monitoring Center for Drugs (EKTEPN) issued research this week in Athens which claimed over 4,300 addicts ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com |
N. Macedonia... not: President refuses to sign renaming treaty with Greece day after announcement
[Preview] Macedonia's president has announced he will not sign an agreement which renames his country the "Republic of Northern Macedonia," despite Macedonia’s prime minister previously stating such a deal had been reached with Greece. Read Full Article at RT.com
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See the complete agreement with FYROM on name dispute (Greek)
The agreement was handed out to the political parties
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT en.protothema.gr |
Be Greek for a day: Popular festival returns to Mason City this weekend
Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church will host its Greek Festival from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, June 16, at the church, 1311 Second St. SW, in Mason City. “It’s a huge deal,” said Jane Reynolds, member of the parish council. The festival ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT globegazette.com |
Macedonia president refuses to sign deal with GREECE changing name of country
Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov has said he will not sign a deal reached with GREECE on changing his country's name, saying it violates the ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.independent.co.uk |
FYROM gov't spokesman: GREEK non-paper an interpretation of the deal
The non-paper circulated by the GREEK government on Tuesday explaining the deal agreed between the Prime Ministers of Greece and the Former ...
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AP Explains: What the GREEK-Macedonian name deal is about
About 2,300 years ago, the uppity GREEK-speaking kingdom of Macedonia subjugated the fractious southern city-states that now comprise Greece and ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.sacbee.com |
Macedonian President Says Won't Sign 'Damaging' Name Accord With Greece
SARAJEVO (Reuters) - Macedonian President Djordje Ivanov said on Wednesday he would not sign a deal reached with Greece on changing his country's name, saying it violated the constitution. "My position is final and I will not yield to any pressure ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.usnews.com |
Summer Solstice In Ancient Greek And Modern Times
Summer Solstice is often referred to as “midsummer”, and had differing traditions surrounding it in ancient pagan times. Among the Greeks, there were some calendars which pivoted around the summer solstice. In Athens, their calendar went from summer ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.patheos.com |
John A. Catsimatidis Calls on Archbishop Demetrios to Resign
NEW YORK – Prominent Greek-American businessman and great benefactor of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, Mr. John A. Catsimatidis, in an open letter calls […] The post John A. Catsimatidis Calls on Archbishop Demetrios to Resign appeared first on The National Herald.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.thenationalherald.com |
Macedonian president won't sign off on name deal with Greece
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Macedonia's president said Wednesday he would not sign off on an historic deal that would change the country's name, the most potentially disruptive reaction so far to the agreement with Greece that has received diverging reactions in both countries. President Gjorge Ivanov said the agreement, which would rename Macedonia as Republic of North Macedonia, gave too many concessions to Greece. The deal reached by the two countries' prime minister is expected to be signed by their foreign ministers this weekend. After that, Macedonia's parliament would vote on it, and if it is approved, Ivanov's signature would be needed. If the president refuses to sign, the deal would return to parliament for another vote.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.sfgate.com |
Speech of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Kotzias, at the Moscow State University of International Relations, (13.06.2018)
“Greece - A stable partner in an unstable region” It is wonderful to be in beautiful Moscow at this time. I am very honoured to be invited here to the State University of International Relations (MGIMO), and to receive an honorary doctorate. This is a twofold pleasure: first, in my capacity as Minister of Foreign Affairs, and also as a professor of International Relations and Foreign Policy at the University of Piraeus. The University of Piraeus has a very special, friendly cooperation with your University. I thank you warmly for your interest in Greece and its foreign policy. And I thank you for this opportunity to present the main points of Greek foreign policy, as this is manifested today in our wider region, in the midst of major international developments. A. The first thing one has to bear in mind in foreign policy is geopolitics. Our region, the Balkans, the Eastern Mediterranean, North Africa, is changing: Greece is at the centre of a triangle; a triangle of instability, as I often says. In one corner is Ukraine, which is in a deep crisis. On the bottom left is Libya, where a brutal civil war has been fought. And in the bottom right-hand corner, as we look at the map, lie Iraq and Syria, with their wars. These three regions are going through very serious crises, though of different degrees and substance. These crises – and various other parameters – put the stability of the wider region at risk. As in a balancing act, the stable parts of the system have to try to maintain the balance in this triangle. Otherwise – if they fail to act – they will be dragged into this instability and the whole system will collapse. B. A second element we need to bear in mind is that, over the past decade, Greece has gone through one of the most profound economic crises in the world; a crisis that has lasted longer than that of North Korea (1990-1997) and has had worse repercussions – given, of course, that we started from a much ‘better place’. In this context, foreign policy must be directly linked to the economic issue; that is, how foreign policy can not only avoid creating difficulties in economic policy, but also how it can help the country emerge from the economic crisis. In other words, the question was, how could Greece – in the throes of an economic crisis and, due to that crisis, with reduced diplomatic capital – shape a foreign policy of peace, become a ‘strong link’ in the chain of stability and security in its immediate region and in Europe as a whole. C. A third element we bear in mind while formulating and promoting foreign policy is the major changes taking place in our world – my favourite subject, but we don’t have time to go into it here. I am referring to the fourth industrial revolution, the second machine age. The tectonic geopolitical changes, with the centre of the world shifting from the Atlantic ‘pond’ to that of the Pacific, and from the West to Southeast Asia. D. In order to better describe and analyse Greek foreign policy in this framework, allow me to present it in codified form, based on the twelve principles of our foreign policy. Principles that are linked, support and are promoted through sixteen initiatives and nine international formations that we have created during the three and a half years we have been in office. This is not some maximalist model, but you will see that these principles, on the one hand, maintain their own independence, while also constituting, as intrinsic components, a solid framework of strategic thinking: The first principle is that one must exercise a proactive and not a passive foreign policy. Proactive foreign policy means that you take initiatives and do not just expect your problems to somehow be solved while you remain in a state of inertia. Or, that you can put off dealing with your foreign policy issues indefinitely. What we experienced in Greece – before our government came to power – was a longstanding expectation that, at some point, our pending issues would resolve themselves, and thus we needed to stay in a state of inaction. Regarding the name problem we have with fYROM, we would argue, characteristically: “What is going to happen with Skopje? We do not need to do anything. They will deal with the difficulties at some point, and then the solution to the name issue will come. What is going to happen with Albania, with which we have had problems for 70 or 100 years now? We will wait, and at some point the problems will be resolved or Albania will be forced to abandon its positions. This is a policy of expectations and wishful thinking. It is a policy that, at bottom, conceals an egocentric and antagonistic view of international relations, in which a neighbour’s weakness is not dealt with as a more general problem of stability in the region, but as an opportunity to impose your will, to achieve ‘victory’ on bilateral issues. As a view, it is as unrealistic as some people’s expectation that Greece would cede its national rights and back down from its longstanding positions in foreign policy due to the economic crisis. Therefore a policy of this kind is a passive policy that simply waits for something to be done outside or by third parties so that Greece and its foreign policy can be ‘delivered from’ one problem or another. In contrast, what we did and continue to do is promote a proactive foreign policy. Taking initiatives and making moves. For example, when we came to power, and despite our having to deal with a very negative personality in the head of the fYROM government, Mr. Gruevski, we created 21 confidence-building measures (CBMs), which included cooperation between universities, a new natural gas pipeline, new railway lines, etc. This policy’s initial purpose was to build confidence/trust between the two sides, so that steps toward resolving the name issue could follow. I believe, or rather hope, that we will succeed in the end. The CBMs created trust. In our neighbouring country, during the controversy over the name, the sense was created that we were against their very existence as a state. That Greece, like other states, wanted their country to break up. I am the first Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs to have visited fYROM, and in a press conference, after four hours of consultations and in front of 400 journalists – all of the key players were there – I told them that we see their country as ‘God’s gift’, but that they had the wrong ‘Godfather’. In this way, I wanted to make the distinction and say: “We are pleased that you exist, but the problem is your name. However, this does not mean that we have other problems with you.” I have the feeling that, after years, this was the first time they started to reconsider things. It was as if the ice had broken and they started to see us a little differently. Through this proactive foreign policy, we succeeded – with Albania, for example – in resolving decades-old problems. Very, very soon, I believe, we will complete the negotiations on a package of ten issues. This package includes the delimitation of borders and maritime zones, and so on. Here, one has to try to understand why we continued to have problems with these two countries. Once could claim that they are “strange countries, Balkan countries, or that they have eccentric Ministers of Foreign Affairs.” But that is not the case. The issue is that these problems with these countries were not created and resolved during the Cold War, as happened in other cases, like the Oder–Neisse line between Poland and German. On the contrary, these problems appeared after the end of the Cold War: fYROM was part of Yugoslavia, so there was no issue of recognizing it as a state. Albania was under the isolationist regime of Enver Hoxha, so there was no chance of negotiating the various issues with it.So our thinking was, and is, to resolve these issues by taking initiatives. Because, you know, when diplomacy remains indifferent, problems are not resolved in peacetime. These problems are usually resolved through war – cold or ‘hot’ – and at a much higher cost. In this context we took a very interesting initiative: we created a special Conference on the Protection of Religious and Cultural Pluralism in the Middle East. There, we had the good fortune, as the only European country, to bring together, in Athens, all of the leading figures of the Churches and cultural communities of the Middle East; some 400 leading figures. In October of last year, we organized the Conference in collaboration with Austria and the UAE. When we launch an initiative, we want to do it in a proactive way and try to extend it by organizing it with other countries. We are not egocentric. Our second principle, which sounds obvious but, in our region, is not, is the creation of a positive, not negative, agenda. For example, the Rhodes Conference. Among the Arabs, this Conference is referred to as ‘The spirit of Rhodes’, which, by the way, is a very beautiful island, and I know that many Russians visit it and the Dodecanese, especially in the summer months. Eight countries from Southeast Europe, 14 Arab countries, the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council participate in this Conference. We do not talk about the wars I mentioned earlier, nor do we discuss tensions or the Palestinian problem. If you were in our region, you would find that all Conferences discuss only this issue. We tried to create a positive agenda. For example, last year, in Cairo, we jointly organized a film festival, and a meeting of the youth of the region took place in Cyprus. We are trying to exert influence in our region through positive synergy, our positive cooperation. I got the idea for this initiative when I was in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. During my visit to an excellent new museum, to my great surprise – though I am an educated person – I found that all of the exhibits were 4,000 to 6,000 years old, and many of them were from Greece. At that time, so many years ago, there existed in our region an inconceivably large network of cooperation on the economic and scientific levels; cooperation that no longer exists today. We believe that this cooperation must be rebuilt; for example the old transport routes should be reopened, cooperation should be established between universities. We created a university network, but we have not yet secured adequate funding to make it bigger. The fundamental aim of the ‘Spirit of Rhodes’ is to build a security and stability community, possibly along the lines in which the OSCE evolved after Helsinki. This year we may conclude on a common document on joint disarmament, security and stability, so that next year we can try to reach the end of the first phase. And building a positive agenda helps in this direction, because through this agenda we better understand the advantages of cooperation and thus the need for us to secure and safeguard the things that unify us and bring our peoples closer together. In other words, in contrast with other conferences that talk exclusively about wars and tensions, and that hope –sometimes against hope– to find solutions to complex problems, we first lay, through the positive agenda, a foundation of trust, mutual understanding and respect, significantly increasing the probability of a broader understanding on issues of security and a positive agenda. Just as an indication, I’ll mention two other initiatives in this positive agenda: One is the cross-border cooperation between us and our three northern neighbours: Bulgaria, fYROM and Albania. This cooperation on all issues works very well on everything from small matters, such as fire-fighting – because wildfires know no borders; one might say they are ‘supporters of globalization’ – to issues of security, energy cooperation, etc. Another similar initiative is Euromed. Euromed concerns the seven EU member states of the European south: Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Malta, Cyprus and Greece. Smaller countries as well as larger ones (including the 2nd, 3rd and 4th largest EU member states), which raise within the EU – with adequate intensity – the social issues that have more or less been lost in intra-EU dialogue, along with cohesion issues. Our third principle is a proposal regarding the relationship between foreign policy and history. In other words, in conjunction with the two previous principles, we add something specific: a formula for the future. There is an old, interesting saying of Churchill’s, which is a little funny and a little sad, because the British had got very involved in our region: “The Balkans produce more history than they can consume.” He meant, in other words, that the Balkans have a hard time managing even their own history. I came up with another phrase that can be used on a general level and contains positive elements: “History must be a school, not a prison.” To a significant degree, until the time of our government, the Balkans, Southeast Europe, were a ‘prison’ of prejudices and stereotypes, and not a land of peaceful self-awareness and cooperation. It is based on this that we organized the cooperation and all of the various platforms with Albania and Skopje. I believe that, in this way, we succeeded in dealing with all of the problems of the past. The fourth principle is to learn from our experience. In other words, that our proposal does concern the future, but at the same time it draws lessons from the past, from our experience, from our mistakes. You are well aware that a scientist or politician must learn from his experiences. In ‘Politische Kybernetik’, a book from the 1960s, the Czech Karl Wolfgang Deutsch, who, in America, had a close friendship with Hannah Arendt, said that “a person needs to be creatively adaptive.” Deutsch provided a very good definition of dogmatism: “Dogmatism is not one view or another, which may be wrong. Dogmatism is not being in a position to learn and be renewed.” In other words, dogmatism means not being able to learn and move ahead. In our study, we concluded that, following the collapse of the governments in the Balkans, Greece reacted too arrogantly. We created a network of banks and investments, but, I would say, with an element of arrogance. The 1990s were, of course, an era of excessive arrogance, of unrestrained economic liberalism that followed the collapse of communism; economic liberalism with the mistaken view that the economy dictates and determines everything. What did our government learn from this? Greece is a very small country on the global map. It is not easy to overcome that. In Europe we are a medium-sized country. But in the Balkans we are a very important country, both institutionally and in terms of our productive capabilities. We are still the largest economy in the region, in spite of the crisis. But this cannot lead us to deal with the other countries arrogantly. My view is that when one is larger, more powerful and has good institutions, one also has bigger responsibilities. That, given the fact that we bear greater responsibility, we are obliged to make compromises. Because one’s ability to make compromises is an indication of strength, not weakness. That we are the first who should start to compromise. That we must lead in this culture of compromise and consensus among the states. And this is not easy for the region or its history, because the word ‘compromise’ unfortunately still has a negative connotation in the subconscious of the region’s peoples. We are trying to overcome this prejudice. The fifth principle is to exercise a future-oriented policy, and thus not look constantly to the past. Because only then is our proposal of practical value, and not just of academic interest. As you know, we have a very long history of thousands of years. Sometimes we tend to cling to this history and think of how important we are due to history. This may nurture our self-esteem, but this is a misguided self-esteem. It is not the kind that helps one get better. Rather, it makes you complacent, passive and lazy, and at the same time you boast, becoming obnoxious. That is why one must look to the future, because only then can one face life with courage. For example, a big question arises: If the EU enlarges further, it will include the 6 states of the Western Balkans or, more accurately, the 5+1 states (of the Western Balkans). If the EU admits these 6 states and, possibly, another 2 or three from its eastern neighbourhood, it will have over 35 members. And what we are trying to explain to all of the candidate countries that want to join the EU as soon as possible is that, in a Union of 35 or 40 members, the smaller states, by definition, will not be able to play a major role. Greece, too, is among the small member states, but the other states of the Western Balkans are even smaller. They have populations of 600,000, 1 million, 1.2 million. Consequently, only if there is collaboration and collective representation and defence of interests, only if we create networks and build synergies in the region – and this has to start happening today if we are to ensure our future coexistence in the EU or anywhere else – only then will all of our voices in the Balkans be heard in the Union or any other configuration that arises from these 40 countries. Very briefly, I will focus on three parts of our region’s history from 1989 on. The first part is the 1990s, when, following the collapse of the communist regimes, Greece and other countries, such as Austria and Italy – and later Germany and France – made investments and tried to create networks, ties between the various states. The approach was to create a common present. But then came the Thessaloniki decisions, in 2003-2004, which moved in the direction of enabling these countries to join the EU – Romania and Bulgaria are already members – and there was competition between the region’s states for accession to the EU. The internal ties between the states of the Balkans were lost, and everyone focused on the effort to become candidate countries, first, and then join the EU. The economic and social ties that had been built between the Balkan states in the 1990s slackened. What we have to do today is develop a future-oriented strategy that leads to convergence: This means that, of course, these countries can join the EU, but at the same time they should also rebuild the relations amongst themselves, so that they can be stronger even within the EU. Based on this strategic choice, on the level of Balkan countries, apart from the Cross-border Cooperation I already mentioned, we have developed a cooperation scheme among the region’s EU member states – Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece – because we have common interests in the context of the policy on Southeast Europe. There is also a special configuration that includes Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia, designed to help Serbia -and perhaps, in the future, Montenegro- prepare to join the EU. The sixth principle is that one must have a strategic plan. In other words, a plan for how one sees one’s position in space and time, and one’s relations with others, shaping alliances with mid-/long-term targets over time. An example that illustrates this principle is that we have shaped six cooperation schemes that are part of the multicultural and multidimensional foreign policy we are exercising. Greece and Cyprus, two EU member states, have special and separate trilateral cooperation schemes with Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan and Armenia. These cooperation schemes have two dimensions: collaboration from the level of Presidents or Prime Ministers to the level of Ministry Directorates. Moreover, this is horizontal cooperation in which all of the Ministries participate. The biggest cooperation is with Egypt, followed by that with Israel. The newest cooperation scheme is with Armenia. The seventh principle is how one deals with certain difficult contradictions. The most difficult system of contradictions for our country’s foreign policy is Turkey. Turkey is a system of contradictions. That is how we interpret it. And the interpretation part is very important because it mitigates the sense of the incomprehensible, which is inherent in a contradiction, facilitating subsequent action and handling of the contradiction. Turkey has ‘traditional’ contradictions as well as new ones. The new ones are more political in nature, while the older ones have to do with the matter of their nation. They have 17 or 18 million Kurds, and about 5 million of these Kurds live in Istanbul, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. They have contradictions in their social and economic stratification. In Istanbul and Izmir they have parts of their economy that are very dynamic and integrated into the global capitalist system; large and modern structures. And at the same time they have structures, especially in Anatolia, that are reminiscent of feudalism; non-democratic structures. But they also have contradictions of a political nature. They have a situation similar to that of the U.S., where the Democrats are stronger on the coasts, and the Republicans are stronger in the hinterland. In Turkey, too, you have the coastal regions and the hinterland. On the Turkish coast, which looks to the west, the Aegean, and to the south, over 60% of voters in the recent referendum voted against the Erdogan system. This was also the case in the large cities – even in Ankara, but also in Istanbul and Antalya, where the majority of Turkey’s intellectuals and middle class reside. These people have a more western orientation. In contrast, the people in the hinterland are oriented towards a model in which Turkey leads the region, and this was clearly reflected in the different ways these two groups voted. The newest, and perhaps biggest, contradiction is that the Turkish leadership is wavering between arrogance and self-confidence. They managed to avert the coup, they invaded Iraq and Syria, they belong to the G20, the 20 most important economies in the world. All of this bolsters Turkey’s self-confidence, but sometimes it also makes Turkey arrogant – and this is something we have experienced first-hand. But sometimes the Turkish leadership is seized with insecurity, perhaps due to the deplorable coup that was attempted in the summer of 2016. It is an insecurity linked with fear. And this mixture of self-confidence with arrogance, insecurity and fear makes the Turkish system – at least as we interpret and experience it – exceedingly restless. Like a pendulum swinging from one side to the other, but unperiodically, restlessly. Turkey is also a revisionist power. It does not want to honour international treaties. It wants to revise them. For example, Turkey’s invasion of Syria violated the Treaty of Lausanne and circumvented International Law. This restlessness, together with the revisionism and the domestic authoritarianism led by Erdoğan – whom I regard as an important figure – is causing a number of problems in our region. We always try to reduce tensions, but this is a difficult art, and you have to have a talent for it. In other words, the ability to follow a policy for reducing tensions without creating the impression that you are weak, that you are backing down out of fear. It is like the stance you take when you comes face to face with a formidable entity: You can neither run nor irritate it further, because if you do either of these, it will attack; in the first case, out of a sense of superiority, and in the second out of fear. Instead, you have to show composure and resolve, because this is the only way to gain your opponent’s respect. And you must not back down from your principles and values. We have a different outlook on the value of life and of warfare. This is a policy of responsibility. And that brings us to the eighth principle that governs or guides our policy: Greek foreign policy acts within the framework of International Law. We believe that International Law is the tool with which one handles international conflicts, interests, contradictions. And the Cyprus problem is a very characteristic example of this. Last summer, and throughout last year, we negotiated a great deal on the Cyprus issue. A major twelve-day round of negotiations took place in Crans-Montana, in Switzerland, during which we negotiated day and night. An important question was raised there: what is the core of the Cyprus problem? Is it the conflicting interests of the two communities, the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots? It is that too, in part. That is why I always argue that the Turkish Cypriots should be given the maximum possible rights. Moreover, the interest of the three smaller communities – the Armenians, Maronites and Latins – need to be protected, because most people overlook the rights of these communities. And the Greek Cypriot side must be given the maximum possible sense of security. But the question remains: what is the fundamental issue of the Cyprus problem? In my opinion, it is the following: the issue of security, the problem of the illegal occupation of the northern portion of Cyprus. The northern part of Cyprus is the most militarized region in Europe. Until last year, 44,000 military personnel were stationed there for 92,000 Turkish Cypriots and a total population of 200,000. The ratio is one soldier to every two Turkish Cypriots, or one soldier to every family if one counts the settlers. On the Cyprus problem, we are in favour of a solution whereby: Cyprus must become a normal state, a member of the EU and the UN. It must fully enjoy all the rights of a normal state, without third-party ‘rights’ of intervention. A very important current example for our policy is Iran. We believe that international agreements -once they have been concluded, and provided no one violates them- should be respected. On this point we disagree with the powers that believe they should withdraw from the agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme. We do not believe this is the way to ensure greater stability. We believe that the way to ensure greater stability is through the implementation of international agreements. The ninth principle is that our policy needs security structures, especially in the Eastern Mediterranean space. Because we have the Cyprus problem, we have the issue of the islands located south of Turkey; islands which some people are flirting with, asking, “Why should these remain Greek?” In other words, the strong deterrent force the country has -unlike other countries in the region- and that ensures that Turkey will think very carefully before doing something that will cost it dearly. The tenth principle is, to upgrade the role of our ‘small’ state. But how can we do this on the international stage? We need to do it through the EU, if possible. But how can we do this? What is great in this small country? Culture. And this is something every Russian learns in school. In this context we took an initiative. If we had taken this initiative alone, it may not have been so successful. This initiative is the GC10, the Ancient Civilizations Forum; a forum for nations that gave birth to and established great civilizations. These cultures continue to resonate today in people’s day-to-day lives, in institutions, and in the way a state functions. So we created a group of states comprising China, India, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia and Greece. Other states have asked to participate, as this is a group of states with very great ancient civilizations. We will see how this initiative proceeds. For the time being, we hold the Presidency of the Forum, which will be passed on to Bolivia in September. The eleventh – and penultimate – principle is to endeavour, in the context of this multidimensional policy, to maintain the best possible relations with all sides, to the degree they make this feasible as well. This does not mean we want to be liked by everyone and at any price, but that we treat everyone with respect, and that whatever we don’t understand, whatever is different about them, we do not reject but treat with interest and respect. And this is because our long history has taught us that we must not rupture our ties with other countries, as we are sometimes asked to do. This happens mainly – and perhaps this is an issue we can discuss in greater detail afterwards – with countries like Egypt and Iran, with which we have had relations for 6 or 7 or 8 thousand years now. Younger countries find it difficult to understand that these thousands of years have perhaps passed into our upbringing or our education, making us inclined to take a calmer/milder approach to other countries with very long histories. We also see the benefits of working to build new friendships with states we had no significant relations with in the past, like Colombia, South Korea, Singapore and others. We are living in a world that is changing very rapidly. That is in a transitional phase. In this world we need to learn to better understand one another. And to do this we need multiple new forms of diplomacy, beyond the hard-core diplomacy of the past. There is citizen diplomacy, cultural diplomacy, city diplomacy, and so on. And in these sectors, Greece and Russia have a great deal to say to each other. We share many common origins/influences, traditions, symbols. Many elements of Russian culture are foundations of European culture as a whole and, by extension, Greek culture. Russian ballet, Russian poetry, like that of Pushkin, and Russian music, folk and classical, our songs from the anti-fascist struggle, religious traditions and the profound faith in people’s emotional world. All of these things bring us closer together, regardless of and beyond the difficulties created by our time. The final, twelfth point is that a country like ours must be a country oriented towards peace. It cannot exercise an aggressive foreign policy or be oriented towards war. It must show other capabilities and another dynamic. Greece must appear as a negotiator, as an honest broker -as we are in relation to the Middle East and the conflicts in the Balkans, in which we do not participate- and as a country that consults. We all need to talk more, to think more. Not to rush when it isn’t necessary. E. I attempted, in the context of the subject of today’s discussion, to present the twelve principles that govern the exercising of Greek foreign policy as a factor for stability. In recent years, we have taken and created 16 initiatives and cooperation schemes -successfully, I would say. We have managed to function, in an unstable region, as a pillar of stability and peace, social justice, equal relations between states -relations based on international law- respect for cultural pluralism, understanding and dialogue for dealing with all problems. And naturally -though we may have done this 20 years ago- we do not want to appear to wag our fingers and tell third countries what to do. We appear as a country that knows how to mediate, to find solutions to conflicting interests -and this is something we do, and that we are proud of, even when these efforts are not always made public. What counts in diplomacy is success, and not the promotion of an image in the news media. This is perhaps the small difference between what we do and other human activities. Thank you for coming and thank you for your patience.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.mfa.gr |
One crazy statistic shows how incredibly big 'Fortnite' has become in less than a year
[Fortnite at E3 2018]Ben Gilbert / Business Insider * "FORTNITE" IS DOMINATING THE WORLD OF VIDEO GAMES. * OVER 125 MILLION PEOPLE HAVE PLAYED THE GAME SINCE IT LAUNCHED IN JULY 2017, THE GAME'S PUBLISHER ANNOUNCED ON TUESDAY. * SINCE THE BATTLE ROYALE MODE OF "FORTNITE" IS FREE, AND AVAILABLE ON MOST PLATFORMS, IT'S VERY EASY TO PLAY THE GAME. ------------------------- How big of a deal is "Fortnite"? The latest statistic — over 125 million players — offers a tiny glimpse into the massive cultural impact "Fortnite" has had. There are more "Fortnite" players than PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch owners combined.SEE THE REST OF THE STORY AT BUSINESS INSIDERNOW WATCH: We tried gaming on the Samsung CHG90 ultrawide gaming monitor SEE ALSO: * Nintendo just blew the lid off at E3 2018 — and competitors could learn a thing or two * The biggest game in the world, 'Fortnite,' is finally coming to the Nintendo Switch * The next major 'Assassin's Creed' game is heading to Ancient Greece in 'Assassin's Creed Odyssey' — take a look SEE ALSO: DOZENS OF AMAZING-LOOKING VIDEO GAMES WERE ANNOUNCED THIS WEEK — HERE'S WHEN YOU'LL BE ABLE TO PLAY THEM
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.businessinsider.com |
Fraport offers cheaper fees to woo more flights to GREECE
Fraport GREECE, a Fraport-led consortium, will slash airport fees by 50 percent during this year's low season to attract new international flights to 14 ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com |
GREEK PM to address Parliament on name deal on Friday
GREEK Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will address Parliament on the name deal with Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) on Friday, ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com |
GREEK banks' ELA dependence declines
Emergency central bank funding to GREEK lenders dropped by 0.65 billion euros, or 6.4 percent, in May compared to the previous month, Bank of ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com |
Turnover Up in Q1 2018 for GREEK Travel Agencies
The GREEK travel agency sector saw turnover rise of 25.4 percent in the first quarter of 2018, compared to the corresponding period of 2017. Citing data ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT news.gtp.gr |
Get Ready to Rethink What You Know About GREEK Food
Gyros. Lamb chops. Grape leaves. Cheap rosé. That's pretty much the extent of the GREEK food repertoire that most Chicago diners have in mind.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.chicagomag.com |
Chancellor Angela Merkel chairs integration summit in Berlin, without Seehofer
After chairing the government's integration summit, Merkel has called for a pan-European solution for illegal migrant arrivals currently concentrated in Italy, Greece and Spain. Her interior minister was absent.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.dw.com |
ESM Head: Greece could be the next success story
He urged the country to continue reforms after the end of the programme in August
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT en.protothema.gr |
Greece opposition to submit PM no-confidence motion over Macedonia deal: source
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's opposition New Democracy party plans to submit a motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in parliament over a deal on neighboring Macedonia's name, a party source told Reuters. New Democracy would wait ...
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GREEK Soccer Team Olympiacos Launches Third US Youth Academy in Washington DC
Olympiacos, one of Greece's most successful professional soccer teams, has officially launched a new soccer academy for training and skills ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.pappaspost.com |
African King Baptized into Greek Orthodox Church on Mount Athos
Every baptism is a happy occasion but a recent ceremony in the religious enclave of Greece’s Mount Athos was a little extra special. A tribal king who had travelled all the way from the West African nation of Ivory Coast — King Tchiffi Zae Jean Gervais ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com |
Fraport Greece offers airlines cheaper fees to attract new business
ATHENS, June 13 (Reuters) - Fraport Greece, a Fraport-led consortium, will slash airport fees by 50 percent during this year’s low season to attract new international flights to 14 Greek airports, it said on Wednesday. Fraport Greece, a consortium of ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.reuters.com |
The Latest: Kosovo hails neighboring Macedonia's Greece deal
Kosovo says the deal of its southern neighbor Macedonia with Greece on its new name will contribute to peace, stability and Euro-Atlantic regional integration. A statement Wednesday from Kosovo's foreign ministry hailed the "historic agreement," which ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT abcnews.go.com |
New Era in Macedonia
By Erol Rizaov Columnist Nezavisen VesnikMacedonia has secured its European future Greece has protected its past This is the main framework in which the image of the future r
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT balkaneu.com |
Zaev speaks of 'a historical solution which strengthens the Macedonian identity'
The President of fYROMacedonia Zoran Zaev together with the members of the countrys government held a press conference about the agreement overthe name dispute withGreece
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT balkaneu.com |
GREECE car vandalized, family receives outpouring support
Just when you lose faith in human behavior, it seems the good people of the GREECE community have stepped forward to show they care. At least that's ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.whec.com |
State Department on Agreement on Macedonia Name Issue
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of State released the following statement on Greece-Fyrom agreement on name issue: “The United States congratulates Prime Ministers Alexis Tsipras […] The post State Department on Agreement on Macedonia Name Issue appeared first on The National Herald.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.thenationalherald.com |
Name deal to eliminate Skopje's irredentist pretensions, GREEK FM says
The name deal reached between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) will eliminate irredentist pretensions in Skopje, ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com |
Statements of Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Kotzias following his meeting with his Russian Federation counterpart, Sergey Lavrov (Moscow, 13 June 2018)
N. KOTZIAS: I thank my counterpart very much for the invitation to visit Moscow. We hope to experience a wonderful World Cup in your country. We confirmed the invitation for my counterpart to come to Athens in September so we can prepare the Greek Prime Minister’s visit to Moscow. We discussed the further development of our bilateral relations on matters of economy, culture, education and other issues. We also put forward particular thoughts on further developing the cooperation between the two Ministries and their Directorates. We talked about the problems in our region, in Southeast Europe, in the Middle East, in the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa. What is of special interest to us is Russia-EU and Russia-NATO relations. We talked, and we have to talk further, about how we can overcome the existing problems, overcome the stereotypes and prejudices that exist in a number of regional and international organizations. And of course, in the context of the discussion of NATO’s and the EU’s relations with Russia, we talked about Ukraine. As you know, in Ukraine, and particularly in the Mariupol area, there are 160,000 Ukrainians of Greek origin. They have a centuries-long presence there, and this is of special interest to us. Finally, we talked about the issues of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. I thanked the Minister –and I also want to do so publicly– for Russia’s stance on the Cyprus issue, and we talked about the developments in Syria and Iraq. Greece is not part of the problem, but it is a country that feels the repercussions of what is happening in the region. This is why we support anything that can stabilize the region and lead to a better future. Sergey, thank you again for the invitation and for our talks. JOURNALIST: Following the Skopje issue, how do you see geostrategic and geopolitical relations taking shape in the wider Balkan region? N. KOTZIAS: I think it is diplomacy’s duty to solve problems. Our government’s foreign policy is proactive, democratic and multidimensional. In this context, we resolved an issue that has existed formally for 25 years now, and in reality for at least 70 years: how to stop the dispute over the problem of North Macedonia’s name. It is a small part of the region’s culture to fight over names. So if the grandfathers in a given family don’t have the same name, there will be trouble. There were also issues of irredentism, of course, which this agreement puts an end to. We are also in the process of resolving issues that have been pending with Albania anywhere from 30 to 80 years. Before I go on holiday, I will have finished with this. Otherwise, no holiday. I also hope we will reopen the Cyprus issue – in the right way – and resolve that as well. This is a more difficult issue than the other two I mentioned, because in those two we were the larger party and we were determined to resolve the issues. I think our region will become more peaceful. Our country is located in a difficult geopolitical region, between many crises – Ukraine, Libya, Syria, Iraq – in this triangle of instability. Now that we are emerging from the economic crisis, we believe that stability in the Balkans can help us grow all together. We have a very dear poet in Greece: Cavafy. He wrote a poem entitled “Waiting for the Barbarians,” and it says that in the agora, when they were told that the barbarians wouldn’t be coming, some people were worried and said: “Now what’s going to happen to us without barbarians?” I am pleased that we are solving problems, but I know there are some people who are asking: “Now what’s going to happen to us without barbarians?” These are people who have made problems their ‘profession’. Thank you.
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Ministry of Foreign Affairs announcement on the summit meeting between the leaders of the United States of America and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (Singapore, 12 June 2018)
We warmly welcome the summit meeting between the leaders of the United States of America and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, in Singapore, and the express commitment by both sides to work together towards the full denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and the consolidation of stability and security in the wider region, following decades of tensions. Greece considers respect for International Law and the principle of peaceful resolution of disputes as the cornerstone of its foreign policy. As such, it will continue to support all efforts towards a diplomatic solution for the full and permanent denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, as well as the prevention of proliferation of nuclear weapons and related technologies, of which it is a longstanding proponent.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.mfa.gr |
Greek club Olympiacos FC signs Spanish striker Miguel Angel Guerrero
Spanish striker Miguel Angel Guerrero has signed a contract with Olympiacos FC, the Greek League club announced Wednesday. The 27-year-old joined the Greek club, which finished third this season in the Super League table, from Spanish club Leganes, where ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.efe.com |
The Latest: Slovenia: GREECE-Macedonia deal good for Balkans
The Latest on the name dispute between GREECE and Macedonia (all times local):. 2:45 p.m.. Slovenia's president says an agreement resolving a ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.sacbee.com |
Breaking News! Debate on FYROM deal to happen on Friday in Greek parliamnent
Greece conceded the name of Macedonia
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT en.protothema.gr |
Scepticism in Greece and Macedonia against proposed name deal
A Greek flag reading "Macedonia" held at a demonstration in Greece earlier this year urging the government not to compromise on the festering name row Athens (AFP) - Greeks and Macedonians expressed scepticism on Wednesday over a proposed compromise deal ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.yahoo.com |
Greece wants bold Merkel embrace of Macron's euro zone plans
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel should be bolder in responding to French proposals to strengthen the euro zone, the Greek finance minister said in interview published on Wednesday, adding that concerns over Italy had highlighted the need to act.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.reuters.com |
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