Australian PM visits Crete
Australian Prime Minister John Howard returned to Greece on a one-day private trip yesterday to visit sites on the southern island of Crete, where Australians battled alongside Greeks during World War II. Soldiers from Australia, Britain and New Zealand fought along with Greeks during the 11-day Battle of Crete in May 1941 and the three years of German occupation that followed. Howard toured battle sites around the town of Rethymnon, where Australians were primarily based. He also visited the Hellenic-Australian Memorial Park, which was unveiled during a 60th anniversary commemoration of the battle last year. Earlier this week, Howard was in Athens for a two-day official visit, during which Greece and Australia signed an agreement on cooperating in criminal investigations. He then traveled to the Vatican to meet with Pope John Paul II on Saturday. Howard’s two-week trip through Greece, Italy, the Vatican, Germany and Belgium aims to strengthen economic ties with the European Union, which is Australia’s largest trading partner. (AP)
