Environment Minister Vasso Papandreou…
Environment Minister Vasso Papandreou contributes to the pedal power of an elaborate self-propelled contraption on the Dionysiou Areopagitou pedestrian street in central Athens yesterday, which was designated Cycling Day. Athens Mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos (l) chose a more conventional machine to join in a cycling tour of the city center in a series of activities this week intended to wean Athenians off their cars. The EU’s nascent rapid reaction force had aimed to carry out its first mission in FYROM but the force’s formation has stumbled on a disagreement between Greece and Turkey. Ankara wants to have a say in how the EU will use NATO assets, while Athens disagrees and says any EU-NATO deal should state that no NATO country will threaten an EU country. The latter proposal, which was hammered out at an EU summit in Seville in June, has not been accepted by Turkey. Greece has therefore proposed that the EU take over FYROM operations on an ad hoc basis.
