An agreement with the troika (EC-ECB-IMF) on the country’s new loan programme is expected to be reached shortly, and will be completed in principle with a joint decision by political party leaders, government spokesman Pantelis Kapsis said on Wednesday. He added that a joint meeting chaired by Prime Minister Lucas Papademos will be held within the next few days before a agreement with the country’s creditors is reached. “Messrs Papandreou, Samaras and Karatzaferis will be called on to make very important decisions,” he stressed.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Tuesday announced that he will proceed with the establishment of “task forces” in eight EU members, including Greece, where unemployment for young adults under the age of 25 is higher than 30 pct. The initiative, to be implemented in Greece, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal and Slovakia, comes within the framework of an effort to combat youth unemployment, which has assumed alarming dimensions across much of Europe.
There would definitely be an agreement between the government and the three parties supporting it concerning how Greece must move forward at this time, government spokesman Pantelis Kapsis said on Monday. He had been asked to comment on Sunday's meeting between the political party leaders chaired by Prime Minister Lucas Papademos.
Each country should be responsible for its fiscal and other policies, otherwise democracy in all of Europe will be undermined, PASOK leader and former prime minister George Papandreou said on Monday in Brussels, asked to comment on a German proposal for the appointment of a special commissioner to monitor implementation of the Greek budget.
The much photographed and videotaped monuments of Athens' Acropolis never cease to amaze visitors with their perfection and beauty, but how many people are aware of the "secrets" behind the unique Parthenon, the magnificent Propylae or the temples of the Erechtheion and Athena Nike?
Prime Minister Lucas Papademos reiterated on Sunday afternoon that political leaders supporting his interim government "are in absolute convergence with the continuation of (PSI) negotiations and the positions we shall support." Speaking after a two-and-a-half meeting at the Maximos Mansion, he said " unity of political forces and their commitment to support necessary changes constitutes a substantive factor of reliability; they strengthen the effectiveness of economic policy and permit us to negotiate better terms." Papademos also referred to a "tough struggle" to secure the country's position in Europe, the euro and the community of developed countries.