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Phone call for a bomb placed in the Ministry of Finance on Syntagma Square interrupted the work and planned press conferences in four of the most important Greek ministers at one o’clock at noon. Anonymous person reported that a dangerous device is placed in the Ministry that will break out at half past one at noon. According to the initial information the call was made minutes before the last meeting with journalists, during which the Finance Minister George Papakonstantinou had to present to the journalists the results of the mission of the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Commission in Greece a day before his leaving for the summer holidays.

At the same time a second press conference on the lists of free medicines in the country for 2011 had to be held on the seventh floor. There were the Minister of Employment Andreas Loverdos, Minister of Health Mariliza Ksenoyanakopoulu and the Minister of Economy, Development and Merchant Marine Louke Katseli.

Ministers, journalists and employees in the building on 4 Nikis Street in the city center were evacuated immediately, while police checked each floor of the ministry. People from neighbouring buildings, shops and offices were evacuated too. The police closed off the streets Nikis, Ermu and Vulis. Tourists and citizens of the capital crowded around the red-white strips with which the police have closed off the area around the Ministry of Finance. As typical Greek attraction they took images with police cars and the blocked ministry in the background.

The warning of bomb attack proved false. The functioning of the Ministry of Finance has been restored at 2.30 pm. The press conference was delayed with almost two hours but  Minister Papakonstantinou presented the goals and tasks faced by the Greek government in the recovery process of the local economy. The press conference on the lists of free medicines was canceled for the next day.

Expect more details later in the day.