PM confers with Foreign Minister

[Ellinas]

Prime minister Costas Karamanlis met with Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis on Friday for a discussion of foreign policy issues, including the Cyprus problem, the FYROM name issue and the developments in Georgia, as well as the upcoming UN General Assembly in early September.

Replying to press questions after the meeting, Bakoyannis said that the Greek government will not comment on the most recent statements by FYROM prime minister Nikola Gruevski, since it believes that a "substantive and honest effort" needed to be made for resolution of the name issue, and that "pointless rhetoric" must be avoided, while noting at the same time that the UN-mediated negotiations on the FYROM name were ongoing and would be continuing over the following days.

The UN secretary general's special mediator on the name issue met separately with the FYROM president and prime minister in Skopje on Thursday, while he held talks in Thessaloniki on Friday morning with Greece's negotiator in the negotiations.

To another question, Bakoyannis noted that there were "no timetables" in the negotiation.

Asked to comment on press speculation that the name "Northern Macedonia" or variations on that were being examined, Bakoyannis stressed: "Greece is seeking a mutually acceptable name, with a geographical determinant, that will be used across the board. This is the Greek position."

Prime minister meets Defence Minister

Prime minister Costas Karamanlis met on Friday with Defence Minister Vangelis Meimarakis, after which the minister said that the government was closely monitoring the situation in South Ossetia.

"As you are aware, Greece is working for the permanent existence of a channel of communication and substantive dialogue, and for a return to the status quo ante," Meimarakis said.

To a question on the doping incidents involving Greek athletes, Meimarakis said that as soon as the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing ended, it would be an opportunity for all sides concerned -- athletes, coaches, federations and state -- to help substantively in resolving the matter, "because it appears that an issue does exist, with which no one has dealt with in substance, so as to resolve it".

He said it was a disappointment for Greek sports and for the athletes, "who, in the bottom line, are the victims, since they devote themselves to it (a sport), love it, make many sacrifices, and have great trust in their coaches and the federations, which bear the biggest, the heaviest, responsibility".

"We must, all together, find a way so that the individuals that the Greek athletes trust will completely deserve that trust," Meimarakis said.

Caption: ANA-MPA file photo of Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis (L) and Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis.

ANA