Prime minister George Papandreou is due in Cyprus on Sunday afternoon on a two-day working visit, during which he will meet with Cyprus President Demetris Christofias and the leaders of the Cypriot parliamentary parties. Papandreou, who also holds the foreign ministry portfolio, will be met at Larnaka airport by Cyprus foreign minister Markos Kyprianou and the Under Secretary to the President Titos Christofides. According to the official programme of the visit, the Greek Prime Minister will be met at Larnaka airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Markos Kyprianou and the Under Secretary to the President Titos Christofides. On Monday morning Papandreou will hold a tete-a-tete meeting at the Presidential Palace with President of the Republic Demetris Christofias. An extended meeting will follow with the participation of the leaders of the Cypriot parliamentary parties. The meeting will also be attended by Papandreou's alternate foreign minister Dimitris Droutsas and government spokesman George Petalotis, Greek Ambassador to Cyprus Vassilis Papaioannou, Cypriot foreign minister Markos Kyprianou, government spokesman Stephanos Stephanou and Presidential Commissioner George Iacovou. On Monday afternoon Papandreou will be received by Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Cyprus before departing for Athens.
Eurogroup telecon to discuss Greece safety net Sunday
Euro zone finance ministers will hold talks on Sunday to detail how a safety net for Greece would work, European officials said on Saturday, as Greece's prime minister indicated Athens may use the mechanism if necessary.
The debt-stricken country has not asked to trigger the EU/IMF aid mechanism but the teleconference will aim to be ready if and when it does require it, officials said. The ECB and the European Commission will also take part in the talks.
"There will be a teleconference on Sunday on Greece in the usual Eurogroup composition," Guy Schuller, a spokesman for Juncker, said. "Greece has not asked for help, but you have to be ready if they do."
Markets pounded Greek bonds and banking stocks this week, driving the euro zone weakling's borrowing costs to new highs and pushing it closer to tapping the safety net agreed last month to help it as a last resort.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou indicated in a newspaper interview that Athens may use the aid mechanism if markets remain skeptical.
"The question remains whether this mechanism will convince markets just as a gun on the table. If it does not convince them, it is a mechanism that is there to be used," Papandreou was quoted as saying in an advance copy of To Vima's Sunday edition.
His Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou, however, told another newspaper that Greece considered it was important to clarify how the EU-IMF aid mechanism would work but believed it would not need to use it.
"The aid mechanism is a very important safety net. We have repeatedly said that it was crucial to create and detail it, but we hope and believe that Greece will not use it," Papaconstantinou told Realnews newspaper.
Spanish government sources said Sunday's teleconference was scheduled for 1200 GMT and would discuss concrete mechanisms of aid for Greece.
Juncker and European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn would probably hold a news conference on Sunday at 1400 GMT in Brussels, Schuller said.
11.04.2010
