GREECE'S Hospitality Body SETKE Welcomes New Tourism Legislation

The Greek Confederation of Tourist Accommodation Enterprises (SETKE) has warmly received the new law covering thematic and special interest ...

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Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs G. Katrougalos’ Interview on “News 24/7” Radio, with journalists V. Skouris and A. Spanou

A. SPANOU: We have the honour of hosting the Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Giorgos Katrougalos, who has just returned from his trip to the United States, which he will tell us about. Let’s welcome Mr Giorgos Katrougalos. V. SKOURIS: Good morning and a good start to a new week. G. KATROUGALOS: Good morning to you and your listeners. Wishing us all a good week. A. SPANOU: You have just returned from America. G. KATROUGALOS: Indeed. The commencement of Strategic Dialogue with the US was a great success. Not only is the leading role of our country recognised - I am referring to the Joint Communiqué - with regard to stabilisation of the region, but it has now become clear that our country is considered to be playing a leading role precisely in ensuring security, not only in the Balkan region but also in the wider region, including the Eastern Mediterranean. V. SKOURIS: Minister, what does upgrading of the country’s role mean in practice? G. KATROUGALOS: The United States invites only a few countries to engage in Strategic Dialogue: those which they feel can play, as I said earlier, a stabilising role, and with which they share interests. I want to clarify something because, in the past, things weren’t always such: the fact that our relations with the United States are totally balanced, and this upgrading precisely exists in our cooperation because we believe that we have coinciding interests in the region.What does this entail? Ensuring peace and stabilising the situation. Our interest is self-evident. There is a corresponding interest on the part of the United States, given that major changes have taken place in the region, which are not limited to the extreme tension in Syria, in Libya, but also related to the generally volatile political landscape of relations. Countries that once represented a given for the West no longer represent a given to the same extent. All of this portrays the special importance that our country possesses. V. SKOURIS: Does this also mean upgrading of Greek forces in American missions in the region? In military missions? G. KATROUGALOS: No. V. SKOURIS: Because the head of the General Staff was also in the United States.G. KATROUGALOS: He was. When we referred to upgrading of relations, this means on all levels. We are holding talks along six axes that cover a range of issues from geopolitics, defence, issues of the Rule of Law, and tackling terrorism. The General of the Hellenic Police was with us, and of course, issues related to the economy were discussed, and energy, which are dual in nature, both economic and geopolitical. But also issues of commerce, investment, and those issues which we refer to as “People to People,” which pertain to cultural relations, educational issues, artist exchanges etc. So that I may come back to your question, despite the fact the head of the General Staff discussed issues related to upgrading of the military material that we receive from the United States, the Dialogue was not geared towards a military plane, but a political one. We firmly consider dialogue and diplomacy to be the main method of resolving political differences, and talks were clearly centred around this. A. SPANOU: Is there an issue with Souda Bay? G. KATROUGALOS: No, there is no issue with Souda Bay. In other words, it depends on what you mean. Souda Bay was already there; it has always served the broader needs... A. SPANOU: A change in the Agreement, let’s say. A revision towards upgrading the cooperation. G. KATROUGALOS: No, there shall be no change in the agreement that will go before Parliament. On a technical level, changes in the method of cooperation are always taking place, but these are technical issues. These are not issues that can be elevated to a major political plane. V. SKOURIS: Minister, how will this Dialogue continue? Will it be repeated? Because sources tell us that it will be repeated in Athens. And a second question, before we proceed with other issues, does the possibility exist of the Greek Prime Minister being invited to the United States? G. KATROUGALOS: Let me begin with the latter. That possibility always exists. Do you know that never in the past have so many meetings ever taken place with the heads of international politics? But that was not one of the topics discussed in the context of the dialogue. On the contrary what you asked was indeed discussed, how this initiative will become systematic and how it will be continued, because we did not wish for it to be only a transient recognition of the important role we play in the region. We wish for it to have a specific, structured continuation. Therefore, it was decided that there will be committees for each Ministry, similar to those we had there, on the mission - because all the Ministries involved were represented - so that its continuation can be ensured through follow-up and continuous communication. And it was also agreed upon that this Dialogue shall take place on an annual basis. Next time, since you were quite right in mentioning it, as it will occur on an alternating basis, it shall take place here in our country. And precisely within this context, one could say that a programme was created which includes everything, and not just the strategic issues and the issues related to investment. We wish to keep the momentum alive that was created by the very successful Thessaloniki International Fair, with the presence of the large American companies that attended. A. SPANOU: Recognition, on the part of Washington, of our country’s role in stabilising the wider region is clearly related to the Prespa Agreement. Isn’t that right? G. KATROUGALOS: The Prespa Agreement is one of the pivotal points of our broader policy in this area. We must not single it out. We could perhaps highlight it as the most striking example of this policy. A. SPANOU: But are you certain, Minister, that a 151 plus majority exists for ratification of the Agreement. G. KATROUGALOS: I have reiterated numerous times that I consider this majority a given, precisely because I have faith in the sense of national duty of Greek MPs. And precisely because that is an issue that surpasses the responsibility of political parties and relates to the individual conscience of the MPs. Of course, it is also an issue of reliability for those political parties which had initially stated that they see the Agreement in a positive light. V. SKOURIS: With less than 151 votes, 151 MPs, will you ratify the Agreement or not? G. KATROUGALOS: Constitutionally, no issue exists with regard to its ratification with less than 151 also, but politically, such a major event will require greater political commitment than a simple majority. V. SKOURIS: That leaves the possibility open for it to be passed with less than 151, if I’ve understood correctly. G. KATROUGALOS: No. On the contrary, that is your interpretation. My interpretation is that, precisely because such a major objective exists, and precisely because this will be felt in Parliament, a majority will exist which will be much greater than 151. A. SPANOU: Will you link ratification with a vote of confidence for the government? Does such a thought exist? G. KATROUGALOS: Such thoughts can clearly circulate and take on flesh and bones only following an initiative on the part of the Prime Minister. And this always takes place in light of the circumstances. This is not something I can tell you from now. A. SPANOU: When the procedures have been concluded in Skopje, and the constitutional revision has been completed, will the Agreement immediately come to the Hellenic Parliament, or will an interim period exist during which other things will take place? G. KATROUGALOS: Our obligation that stems from the Prespa Agreement is to bring it before Parliament as soon as possible. V. SKOURIS: Minister, can a Council of Party Leaders under the President of the Republic exist, as was requested by Panos Kammenos yesterday, which would indeed block the agreement? G. KATROUGALOS: But the reason for the meeting of a Council of Party Leaders is to shape a view, a position on a national issue. It is not to block parliamentary procedures. This is clearly a violation of the separation of powers. That would be something unconstitutional. Indeed, we are always in favour of dialogue, but dialogue, especially with regard to the Prespa Agreement, has begun from the motion of no confidence that New Democracy submitted six months ago. No one can say that this Agreement has not been discussed sufficiently in terms of its full amplitude. V. SKOURIS: Will the opposition be updated on the developments? G. KATROUGALOS: We have always been committed to generally updating the opposition. And contrary to the accusations of secret diplomacy, our policy has always been open. For example, I have invited the opposition parties this Friday, in the context of the National Council on Foreign Policy, the NCFP, to both update them on what took place in the US, as well as to discuss the two current major issues of the upcoming period which include the Cyprus issue, because new initiatives are commencing related to its negotiation, as well as Greek-Turkish relations. A. SPANOU: Any thoughts about an interpretative statement, or for any additional protocol, as has been suggested by Potami? G. KATROUGALOS: The Prespa Agreement is clear on its own. Beyond that, anything required to further and more clearly lay down its issues is a subject we can look at as regards the manner in which this will occur. In no case, though, does such a requirement exist for it to be passed.

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Supreme Court of Greece rules to extradite Russian citizen Vinnik to France

As there are several conflicting extradition requests, the final decision will apparently be made by the minister of justice or, probably, the Greek leadership

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Jailed in Greece Russian bitcoin suspect is 24 days into hunger strike

Alexander Vinnik been in custody since mid-2017

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Lens: Spices. Soil. Scraps of Paper. These Are the Objects Unidentified Migrants Left Behind.

Rocco Rorandelli captures the lives of the refugees and migrants who died crossing a river between Turkey and Greece through the things they carried

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Greek Lawmakers Approve New Budget – with More Austerity

Greek lawmakers approved the heavily indebted country’s budget for 2019 late Tuesday, the first since Greece exited an eight-year bailout program. The budget lawmakers passed with a 154-143 vote still is heavy on austerity measures to ensure Greece registers a hefty surplus, in compliance with its debt relief deal with international creditors. Earlier Tuesday, government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said the proposed budget was Greece’s first in 10 years to be drafted “under circumstances of relative financial and political freedom” from bailout creditors. “Today we have the opportunity to vote for a budget that now reflects the priorities of the Greek government, and not of (its) supervising institutions,” he said during a parliamentary debate. As the debate drew to a close, more than 2,000 people demonstrated peacefully outside parliament in two separate protests called by labor unions. The budget submitted by the left-led government foresees Greece’s battered economy growing 2.1 percent in 2018 and 2.5 percent in 2019. The debt load is set to decline from 180.4 percent of output this year to 167.8 percent next year. Greece owes most of that debt to European partners and the International Monetary Fund. The debt relief deal secured favorable repayment terms, but in return the country must achieve budget surpluses for decades to come. The country also secured a cash buffer from creditors so it would not have to tap bond markets until the rates demanded by investors to buy Greek government bonds drop. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told lawmakers Tuesday that the country is not locked out of bond markets by high borrowing costs — even though his government has so far shelved stated plans to issue bonds shortly after the end of Greece’s last bailout, in August. “(It) is a myth” that Greece can’t tap bond markets, Tsipras said. “You can be certain that we will again make a market exit, with a very good rate.” Greece depended on bailout loans from 2010 until August 2018, and imposed crippling cutbacks to secure the money. Its finances are still subject to creditor scrutiny, albeit less intense than before. Tsipras’ government is playing up citizen assistance programs that are intended to bring some 900 million euros in tax cuts and welfare benefits to less well-off Greeks. The money for the relief measures is supposed to come from a surplus generated by high taxes and constrained public spending. However, labor unions say that’s not enough. “Funding in the budget both for education and for health is much lower than our expectations,” Giannis Paidas, head of the Adedy civil servants’ union, said during the smaller of Tuesday’s two central Athens protests. “It is the same and worse as during previous bailout-era years,” Paidas added. “There will be a 1 billion-euro increase in taxation. As you understand, this increase will burden working Greeks.”

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Human rights court rules against Greece in Sharia law case

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Greece violated a prohibition on discrimination by applying Islamic religious law to an inheritance dispute among members of the country's Muslim minority

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