PM Meets Van Rompuy, Barroso

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• PM Meets Van Rompuy, Barroso
• Diplomatic Corner
• Greek Athletics Reached Europe's Super League
• Famous Centenarian Flag Raiser Dies
• A Villa of Many Secrets

PM Meets Van Rompuy, Barroso Posted: 21 Jun 2011 03:33 AM PDT Prime Minister George Papandreou travelled to Brussels yesterday to hold meetings with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. "We are determined as a country, as a government, to be on track with the programme, to move forward and to do what is necessary," Papandreou said after the talks with Van Rompuy. On his part, Van Rompuy expressed his strong support to the Prime Minister in his unwavering effort to reform the Greek economy and underlined the need for Greece to make further adjustment efforts to address the current challenges, recognizing the progress made so far. Papandreou also held late-night talks with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. "l therefore trust that Greece's elected representatives will back these measures next week in a spirit of national and indeed European responsibility," Barroso said in a statement after the meeting, adding that "now is the time to redouble efforts: for the sake of the Greek people, and for all of Europe." European Commission-Audiovisual Service: Papandreou visits José Manuel Barosso; European Council: President of the European Council meets Greek Prime Minister [VIDEO]

Diplomatic Corner Posted: 21 Jun 2011 05:49 AM PDT New FM in GAG/FAC Meetings Greece's new Foreign Minister Stavros Lambrinidis, speaking during a discussion on political developments in Albania, in the context of an EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) in Luxembourg held yesterday, proposed holding a series of high-level political meetings in Tirana with Albania's political leadership in order to break the political deadlock that is being shaped in this country. The FM repeated Greece's sincere interest in the progress of Albania's European course and the gradual implementation of the European acquis communautaire. Lambrinidis stressed that Greece is closely monitoring events in Albania and shared the concern on the course of political developments following the municipal elections of June 5.    FM in Cyprus On his first trip abroad, following his appointment to the post, Foreign Minister Stavros Lambrinidis visited Nicosia on June 18 for talks with the Cyprus leadership. Upon arrival to the island, Lambrinidis met with Cyprus President Demetris Christofias and was briefed by him on the course of negotiations on the Cyprus issue ahead of the Cypriot President's July 7 meeting in Geneva with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu. In statements following a meeting with his Cyprus counterpart Markos Kyprianou, Lambrinidis assured his audience that Cyprus and the Cyprus issue are a top priority for the Greek government.

Greek Athletics Reached Europe's Super League Posted: 21 Jun 2011 03:33 AM PDT The Greek national track and field squad is back to the Super League of the European Athletics Association, after finishing second in the First Division of the European Team Championship that took place in Izmir, Turkey on June 18- 19. After the conclusion of 40 events, Turkey ranked first with 329 points, with Greece in second place with 307.5 and Norway in third with 290. Greece secured maximum points from Periklis Iakovakis (400 meters hurdles), Nicole Kyriakopoulou (pole vault), Voula Papachristou (long jump), Dimitris Hondrokoukis (high jump), Louis Tsatoumas (long jump) and Costas Filippidis (pole vault).

Famous Centenarian Flag Raiser Dies Posted: 21 Jun 2011 05:51 AM PDT An obituary for a 107-year-old Greek Vasiliki Lambidou who, for nearly half a century, raised a Greek flag every day outside her house located a few meters from the Greek-Turkish border was published in the New York Times daily, on June 20. The obituary reads: "She was much loved by generations of army conscripts, for whom she cooked and did laundry. Soldiers would reciprocate by giving her food and wood for her fireplace. […] Lambidou, whose family was among hundreds of thousands who were part of a population exchange with Turkey following a war in 1921(sic), was honored numerous times by Greek regional and national authorities. Greek President Karolos Papoulias had visited Lambidou at her home in January."

A Villa of Many Secrets Posted: 21 Jun 2011 03:33 AM PDT The Fundana Villas is a class-A boutique hotel in central Corfu that features numerous enchanting peculiarities that have ranked it second in a Budget Travel list of the nine best secret hotels in the world. Initially a 17th century Venetian mansion, the building was transformed into 12 villas overlooking Ropa valley and Mount Pantokrator. But the hotel values the palazzo's heritage, hosting even a museum on the 200-year-old stone olive press of the mansion. The owner, Spyridon Spathas - a guide for the Greek National Tourism Organization for more than 35 years - puts his skills in use, offering hiking excursions to the 18th-century Monastery of St. Onoufrios, situated half a mile across the hotel, as well as botanical walks through the area. Last but not least, the villa may seem oddly familiar even to first-time visitors: this was the Strawberry Pink Villa, where in 1987 the BBC shot the TV- series based on Gerald Durells My family and other animals.

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