Greece's 300-member Parliament voted in the early hours of Monday in favour of the ruling New Democracy (ND) government's policy statement. Voting in favour were the 152 ND deputies while 148 voted against.

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis said Sunday night that Greece's foreign policy was based on the "powerful ideas of peace, stability, international cooperation", that his government's positions on national issues "are known to all" and that these positions "are unshakeable, they are not to be abandoned and they are not to be violated."

 Concluding a three-day parliamentary debate on his government's policy statement, the prime minister said solutions to the country's problems "need concrete proposals" underlining that his governement has no intention of "cooperating with attempts aiming at polarisation and tension."

Demanding the House's vote of confidence for the promotions of "changes and reforms the country needs," the prime minister said these changes "are not simply an option, but a vital need expressed by the whole of society."

"All Greeks, regardless of what one votes for, we want a Greece which is daring, changing and progressing...We want a Greece with a strong economy, with a modern and effective state," he said.

Source: Macedonian Press Agency

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