Greek News Agenda

 

Hellenic Plan for the Balkans Boosted

 

The Hellenic Plan for the Economic Reconstruction of the Balkans (HPERB) prospects were presented by the Foreign Ministry yesterday. Deputy Foreign Minister Evripidis Stylianidis cited several projects, including the Pan-european Corridor X Working in Greece: a practical guide for in-coming researchers [EN], the Sayiades-Konispol-Sarande highway, connecting the upper northwestern tip of Greece with southwestern Albania, and the establishment of SEElight, a cutting-edge regional fibre optic network connecting some 300 universities and research centres in Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).

 

The implementation of the HPERB is moving ahead dynamically following its extension for another five years (2007-2011) by the Parliament. HPERB reflects Greece ’s practical support for the European perspectives of the Balkans, through the funding of infrastructure projects and provision of know-how.

 

Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

Dynamic reactivation of HPERB  

South Eastern European Research Network:  

www.seeren.org

South-East Europe Fibre Infrastructure:

www.seefire.org 

 

Inflation Slows, Unemployment Down

Greek annual inflation slowed to 2.8% in March, from 3.0% in February, Eurostat said on Monday, while National Statistics Service announced that annual inflation rate slowed to 2.6% in March 2007 compared with the same month last year.

 

 

Unemployment fell to 8.7% in January from 9.6% in January 2006, according to National Statistics Service attributing the fall to relevant governmental policies (Tax Reform, investment law, Private Public Partnerships, and privatization).

 

Cultural Triangles

 

The Cultural Triangle of Prespes (www.ctp.gr) is a NGO, registered under the “Hellenic Aid” service and situated on the Greek side of the borders with Albania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) by the Prespa-Ohrid lakes. The Triangle aims at promoting an equal quality of development on each side of the border based on the protection of the common environmental and cultural wealth. To this end, civil society activists from the Prespa-Ohrid region are brought together, and projects for the development of cross-border tourism are being implemented.

THE BRIDGE MAGAZINE

 

The Bridge magazine - A quarterly review on European integration SE Europe & the SE Mediterranean  (www.bridge-mag.com) reports on business, political and cultural ventures of Greek origination in South East Europe and the East Mediterranean.  

 

The current issue now online (Issue 5), focuses on the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) identity and prospects. Articles include ”An emerging economic regional power” (Ambassador Leonidas Chrysanthopoulos BSEC Secretary-General), ”Cooperation vs zero-sum politics” (Dr Dimitrios Triantaphyllou, Director-General at the ”International Center for Black Sea Studies”), as well as an interview with Sergei Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

 

 

Argonautica Conference

 

The Institute of Classical , Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi University, Georgia will hold a conference on The Argonautica and World Culture (1-5.10.2007). The Argonautica is a Greek epic poem written by Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd century BC that tells the myth of the voyage of Jason and the Argonauts to retrieve the Golden Fleece from the mythical land of Colchis , now the western part of Georgia .

 

European Central Bank: Greece 2007

 

The Annual Photography Award 2007 ”Greece today” invites young photographers to present their vision of the country being featured in the competition. The competition is part of European Central Bank Cultural Days programme. This year, the spotlight is on Greece.

 

GREEKS IN THE WORLD

 

It could be the plot of a Bollywood movie. A young Greek girl grows up on the island of Crete and falls in love with movies from faraway India . She later moves to America , but never forgets her Indian connection. She decides to start an Indian Film Festival in the world capital of cinema, Los Angeles , now a focus of collaboration between Hollywood and Bollywood… That is the story of Christina Marouda, who founded The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, devoted to promoting a greater appreciation of Indian culture. The fifth festival opens on Tuesday night with the LA premiere of Jag Mundhra's 'Provoked'.

 

Dnaindia: LA's Indian film festival’s Greek origin