WASHINGTON 17/01/2004 (ANA/T. Ellis)
 Greek Public Order Minister George Floridis said here Friday at the end of a two-day visit to the United States that he ascertained that the U.S. senior government officials he held talks with had confidence in the security measures the Greek government is taking for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

  In statements following talks on Friday with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and other officials, Floridis said ''we discussed in detail with them in a very good spirit. The climate was excellent. This means we have built a very good relationship of trust with the United States. We ascertain their will to help very much on the issue of the security of the Games which they feel is an international matter that concerns them as well and the assessment is that finally everything will go well. In Athens we are working very hard in this direction, and the message is that because we are working together we will have a very big success.'' 

The Greek Minister of Public Order, George Floridis was in Washington January 15-16 for meetings with U.S. Administration officials, which focused on:
• bilateral law enforcement cooperation in combating terrorism, organized crime, human and drug trafficking
• security aspects of the Olympic Games in Athens
• security cooperation  in southeastern Europe.

In Washington, Mr. Floridis met with Attorney General John Ashcroft, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, the Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, FBI Director Robert Mueller, CIA Director George Tenet, Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security Francis Taylor, the State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism Cofer Black, and other Administration officials. 

Source: Athens News Agency

^
top

print this page   send this page