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| Europe |
| Greek Reporter questions Olympic readiness |
| 2004-06-09 |
| Excerpted from State Department Daily Briefing during which a Greek reporter seems to put forth his own agenda in a bizarre but entertaining way. If his pejorative-laced questioning is representative of Greeks poplar opinion, it makes me nervous. He sounds as if he would be well satisfied if the Olympics are a disaster. He is Lambros Papantoniou of the Elettheros Typos Greek daily QUESTION: Yes, on Greece. The over-qualified Mayor of Athens, Dora Bakoyianni, yesterday had a meeting here at the State Department with the Deputy Secretary Richard Armitage. May we have a readout on the record for this meeting (inaudible) for the Olympic Games in Greece? She’s in charge is the (inaudible) of the city. MR. ERELI: Deputy Secretary Armitage did meet yesterday with the Mayor of Athens. They discussed a number of bilateral issues, including preparations for the Olympic Games in Athens. We expressed our support for the efforts that Greece is undertaking and reiterated our offer to provide whatever assistance or other kinds of support that might be helpful to Greece in its efforts as host of the Olympic Games. I think they had a good meeting and, as you know, the Mayor made some remarks upon leaving the building. QUESTION: So you said you feel it was a good meeting. Then Mayor -- Madame Mayor Dora Bakoyianni, daughter former Prime Minister of Greece, Constantine Mitsotakis, is doing a splendid job for the Olympics Games, as I understand; correct? MR. ERELI: Those are your words, Mr. Lambros. QUESTION: According to your statement, you said it was a good meeting. It seems to me you have qualified, et cetera*. That’s why -- MR. ERELI: I’ll just leave it at what I said and refer you to the statement. QUESTION: Ambassador to Greece Tom Miller is coming -- is in Washington, D.C., again less than a month. May we know the reason for those frequent visits back and forth to the American capital from Athens? MR. ERELI: I don’t know the reason for his latest visit. As you know, ambassadors travel frequently to and from capitals, depending on what events are going on, what the presence may be required for. I wouldn’t read anything into the visit. QUESTION: And today, consultations started at the UN on the Annan report about the presence of the UN peace corps in Cyprus, but in yesterday’s consultation on a technical level, the U.S. and British delegations were pushing behind the scenes that this UN force should be terminated within three months. And I was wondering why. MR. ERELI: I’m sorry. I have not heard that. QUESTION: You have not, sir. But can you take this question because it’s very -- MR. ERELI: I’ll take the question. |
| Posted by:Super Hose |
| #9 Monster trucks. This year our truck-star is naming his vehicle "turban burner". |
| Posted by: Charles 2004-06-09 10:43:10 PM |
| #8 Yes, but only for trucks. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2004-06-09 7:20:58 PM |
| #7 Track? There's a stockcar olympic event? |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-06-09 2:56:21 PM |
| #6 Aris, thank you. BTW I am pretty sure that the US is coming because all the track athletes are embroiled in a doping scandal. America only bothers to watch track when the Olympics roll around. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-06-09 2:29:18 PM |
| #5 Maybe he just smells the US pulling out of the Olympics - which I don't see happening. No need for the U.S. to officially pull out, but officials might want to issue a warning that given the current climate, attendees go at their own risk. We can't protect all our citizens everywhere. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-06-09 2:26:33 PM |
| #4 I don't know anything about Papantoniou, but Eleftheros Typos is believed to belong politically to ND, the ruling party which Bakoyanni also belongs to. Have never read it myself. |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2004-06-09 2:22:47 PM |
| #3 Aris, look at the statement: QUESTION: So you said you feel it was a good meeting. Then Mayor -- Madame Mayor Dora Bakoyianni, daughter former Prime Minister of Greece, Constantine Mitsotakis, is doing a splendid job for the Olympics Games, as I understand; correct? He seems to be hunting something to match his own adgenda or that of his paper. He has been covering the State Department for several years as I search his last name and it linked to a State Departmeent Q&A from 2002. Do you know anything about Lambros Papantoniou or the Elettheros Typos Greek daily. Maybe he just smells the US pulling out of the Olympics - which I don't see happening. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-06-09 2:08:37 PM |
| #2 I'm not sure where the reporter was coming from. He may have blundered and meant "overqualified" as a compliment. Is the text of the question a translation or was the reporter speaking in English? But frankly I do feel that Dora Bakoyianni is being wasted in being a mere mayor, when I'd have much preferred her to be the foreign affairs minister, or even the prime minister instead of Karamanlis. I'd have almost certainly voted for ND had it been she that'd be leading it rather than him -- and had Karamanlis lost the election and been forced from the leadership of his own party it would probably be indeed her that'd be given the reins of its leadership. She is from the pro-Western, pro-democratic, pro-freedoms, liberal-right wing of her party. Karamanlis on the other hand is IMO from the wing I'd call "amoral crooks", cozying up to whomever suits him, from the most conservative right to the most Stalinist left, not having any ideology other than what benefits him personally the most. |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2004-06-09 10:41:04 AM |
| #1 The over-qualified Mayor of Athens, Dora Bakoyianni, Aris? Is this just a really bad translation? |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-06-09 9:56:04 AM |