In Brief
GRUEVSKI LETTER
Greek FM appears calm as her deputy seeks EU support Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis appeared unconcerned yesterday when questioned about a letter sent to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso by the prime minister of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Nikolas Gruevski, who complained about the treatment of a supposed «Macedonian minority» in Greece. «The EU and all its members already have a full and detailed briefing on Greece’s position,» Bakoyannis said. Meanwhile, her deputy, Yiannis Valinakis, met with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn in Brussels to stress that Athens is focused on solving the Macedonia name dispute. ARTIST BURGLED Thieves take 150,000 euros Police were yesterday seeking to determine how unidentified burglars entered the home of the well-known painter Alekos Fassianos in Papagou, northeastern Athens, over the weekend and stole 150,000 euros in cash from a wardrobe. Fassianos, who was not home when the theft occurred, said the wardrobe had contained a total of 200,000 euros, police said. Officers said there had been no sign of a break-in. Meanwhile, police in Athens said they had arrested 11 youths, aged 10 to 24, believed to have netted more than 150,000 euros in a series of raids across Attica. Serbian step Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis said yesterday that the capture of former Bosnian Serb leader and war crime suspect Radovan Karadzic would help Serbia’s hopes of joining the European Union. «Serbia is steadily closing the chapter on its problematic past and embarking on its European course with new dynamism,» said Bakoyannis. «This is something very positive. As you know, Greece supports with all its powers this course for Serbia.» Metro stoppage There will be no metro service between 5 and 9 a.m. today because of a work stoppage by employees. The action was announced yesterday when the employees’ union said it would strike over what it called «selective pay rises.» Clean water Laboratory tests on samples of tap water from 44 municipalities and communities in eastern Attica have shown that it is clean and poses no public health risk, according to prefectural officials who oversaw the tests. Only water samples from the area of Nea Makri revealed traces of chemicals that were slightly above the recommended maximum, officials said. Cocaine bust A 34-year-old man arrested last Thursday at Athens International Airport, and subsequently found to have been carrying more than 700 grams of cocaine in his stomach, faced a prosecutor yesterday on drug-smuggling charges. According to police, the suspect traveled from the Ivory Coast to Athens via Brussels with the drugs in 54 little bags in his stomach. Weapons found Weapons and ammunition that disappeared from an army firing range near Hania last December were discovered in four homes on the island yesterday. Three people were taken in for questioning.
