Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 00-01-05

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Papandreou, Diamantopoulou discuss EU, Euro-Turkish relations, Cyprus

[02] Simitis most capable premier, poll says

[03] Main opposition spokesman comments on latest opinion polls

[04] Simitis briefed by interior minister over contract workers issue

[05] Clinton refers to Cyprus proximity talks in bimonthly report

[06] Thessaloniki Stock Market turnover nearly quadruples in 1999

[07] OTEnet lowers rates

[08] Liquidity rises in November

[09] Spokesman claims no nuclear weapons in British bases

[10] Political leaders hold lengthy meeting on Cyprus developments

[11] Government condemns heavy fine on Turkish Cypriot daily

[12] Work begins on archaeological park

[13] Greek equities fall on correction

[14] Secondary Market Bonds End Mixed

[15] Stock brokerages show annual turnover jump

[16] "Mother of God: Depictions of the Madonna in Byzantine Art", at Benaki Museum

[17] Orthodox Patriarchs celebrate end of second Christian millennium

[18] Largest ever group of illegal migrants apprehended

[19] Veteran politician Markezinis dies

[01] Papandreou, Diamantopoulou discuss EU, Euro-Turkish relations, Cyprus

Foreign Minister George Papandreou, Alternate Foreign Minister Christos Rokofyllos and European Union Greek Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou on Tuesday met to discuss the new intergovernmental conference on EU institutional reform and other priorities such as enlargement, the next steps in relations between Europe and Turkey and progress regarding future Cypriot membership of the Union.

Papandreou said issues which will preoccupy the EU in the near future are very important and confirmed the ministry's close and continuous cooperation with Diamantopoulou.

On her part, Diamantopoulou said major developments lay ahead for Europe in 2000.

"The intergovernmental conference is changing the EU's operational framework, enlargement is making Europe bigger, and new policies, such as security and the free movement of citizens, are deepening Europe. In this new period, continuous cooperation between the European Commission with all governments is extremely important," she said.

[02] Simitis most capable premier, poll says

The percentage of voters who believe prime minister Costas Simitis is the most capable political party leader to govern the country has increased, according to a V.PRC. poll published in Tuesday's issue of TA NEA newspaper.

The ruling PASOK party leader was preferred by 43.8 per-cent of respondents in the poll, carried out in December 1999, up from 41.0 percent and 36.6 percent in similar polls in September and April 1999 respectively.

Second in voter preference was main opposition New Democracy leader Costas Karamanlis, with 33.1 percent against 31.8 percent in September 1999 and 33.9 percent in April last year.

As for voter confidence, Simitis again led with 31.9 percent against 27.5 percent for Karamanlis, 6.6 percent for Democratic Social Movement (DHKKI) leader Dimitris Tsovolas, 6.2 percent for Coalition of Left and Progress (SYN) leader Nikos Constantopoulos, 3.6 percent for Communist Party of Greece (KKE) secretary Aleka Papariga, 1.5 percent for Liberals party leader Stephanos Manos, and 1.0 percent for Political Spring leader, while 19.1 percent of the respondents said they did not have confidence in any of the party leaders and 2.6 percent were undecided.

The poll was conducted among a sampling of 1,545 voting-age Greek citizens throughout the country except the Aegean and Ionian islands, between December 2-22.

With respect to popularity, Simitis once again led voter preference with 54.4 percent of respondents having a positive opinion of him against 42.4 percent with a negative opinion. Constantopoulos followed with 48.2 percent having a positive opinion against 43.3 with a negative opinion. Third was Karamanlis with 47.0 percent having a positive opinion against 47.9 percent with a negative opinion, followed by Tsovolas with 46.1 percent (48.8 percent negative opinion), Manos with 25.2 percent (67.5 percent negative opinion), Samaras with 19.5 percent (75.5 percent negative opinion), and Papariga with 18.9 percent (76.6 percent negative opinion.

[03] Main opposition spokesman comments on latest opinion polls

Main opposition New Democracy (ND) will win the next elections whenever they might occur, party spokesman Aris Spiliotopoulos said on Tuesday.

Commenting on the latest opinion poll results conducted by two Athens based firms, Spiliotopoulos noted that ND should work hard and remain close to citizens and their problems

He added that such action is necessary as one of the opinion polls showed that citizens trust ND to confront their every-day problems more so than any other party.

He also criticized one of the two firms for allowing leaks of reports of an on going opinion poll showing ruling PASOK six percentage point ahead of ND, calling the leaks unethical action. Later in the day, high-ranking ND cadre Dora Bakoyianni said that opinion polls reaffirm that the two major parties (ruling PASOK and main opposition New Democracy) are at about the same condition.

She added that the government is confronted by a huge problem regarding the issue of citizens everyday problems, as it has not responded to those problems.

Bakoyianni also said that ND was vindicated to focus on issues of unemployment, education and law and order.

[04] Simitis briefed by interior minister over contract workers issue

Interior Minister Vasso Papandreou told reporters on Tuesday that the government hopes to soon announce an agreement regarding state contract workers, but not before an inter-party committee decides on the issue over the next few days.

Papandreou made the comments after a meeting with Greek PM Costas Simitis and National Economy Minister Yiannos Papantoniou, which focused on interior ministry issue.

[05] Clinton refers to Cyprus proximity talks in bimonthly report

President Bill Clinton refers to the announcement of the start of the UN-led proximity talks on Cyprus in his bimonthly report to Congress on progress towards a negotiated settlement of the Cyprus problem.

In a letter to the Speaker of the House and the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, submitting his report covering the period October 1 to November 30, 1999, Clinton notes that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced on November 13 the start of proximity talks in New York on December 3 to work towards a resolution of the long-standing Cyprus dispute.

The goal of these talks is to prepare the ground for meaningful negotiations leading to a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem, Clinton says.

This welcome news was highlighted during my trip to Turkey and Greece from November 15-20 as a positive step toward bringing about a just and lasting solution for all Cypriots and improving Greek-Turkish relations for a more secure southern Europe, the US President concluded.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37 per cent of the islands territory.

[06] Thessaloniki Stock Market turnover nearly quadruples in 1999

Turnover on the Thessaloniki Stock Market Centre nearly quadrupled in 1999 from the previous year to 7.78 trillion drachmas, a increase of 389.62 percent, a re-port said Tuesday.

The report attributes the spectacular rise in annual turnover to a 296.67 percent jump in December to 763.097 billion drachmas, compared with the same month in 1998.

Turnover, however, fell 21.08 percent from November.

Agricultural Securities led a league of 27 securities firms operating in the market with a turnover value of 155.2 billion drachmas in December, followed by Hellenic Securities and Sigma Securities.

[07] OTEnet lowers rates

OTEnet, an Internet provider, said on Tuesday that it had reduced some of its rates, effective on January 1st.

Among reductions announced by the company, a subsidiary of listed Hellenic Telecommunications Organization, are a 15 percent cut in its PSTN Dynamic PPP dial-up rate to 16,500 drachmas from 19,500 drachmas for a three-month subscription.

In addition, OTEnet's PSTN Static PPP dial-up rate fell by 25 percent to 90,000 drachmas from 120,000 drachmas for a six-month subscription, the company said in a statement.

[08] Liquidity rises in November

Liquidity in the economy measured by the M4N indicator grew by 8.4 percent year-on-year in November from 5.3 percent in the previous month, the central bank said on Tuesday.

The Bank of Greece said in a statement that despite the rise, November's growth was still within an annual target range of 7.0-9.0 percent for 1999.

The sharp increase was due mainly to higher public spending, which stemmed partly from payments linked to the computer transition to the year 2000, the central bank said. Another factor fuelling November's rise was a rise in credit growth to the private sector in the same month, it said.

[09] Spokesman claims no nuclear weapons in British bases

The spokesman for the British Ministry of Defense told CAN on Tuesday there are no nuclear weapons in the British Bases in Cyprus now.

He also said aircraft using the Bases do not carry nuclear weapons.

His comments come only days after the disclosure that military aircraft based at one of the two military bases the UK has retained in Cyprus carried nuclear bombs.

Public Record Office documents for 1969, released last week, said Britains defense rests ultimately on the global nuclear deterrent of which the UKs forces in Cyprus are a part. The Defense ministry spokesman declined any comment on the 1969 documents.

[10] Political leaders hold lengthy meeting on Cyprus developments

A four-hour long meeting of the islands political leadership on the latest developments in Cyprus took place in a spirit of unity in spite of different views expressed during the meeting, Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou said here Tuesday.

He said the National Council, the top advisory body to the President on the Cyprus question, will probably meet again before the start of the second round of UN-sponsored proximity talks in late January.

The Council met in a spirit of unity with an obvious disposition to achieve the highest possible unity and parties expressed their views in this spirit, Papapetrou said.

He said the Council is likely to convene again to review the situation and plan ahead before the start of talks in Geneva.

The Council reaffirmed the need to avoid any leaks of its discussions, he added, noting that party leaders outlined their positions orally. This is the second meeting of the Council after the conclusion of the first round of talks in New York on 14 December.

[11] Government condemns heavy fine on Turkish Cypriot daily

The government condemned on Tuesday a huge fine imposed on a Turkish Cypriot daily by a self-styled court in Turkish occupied Cyprus for alleged defamation of Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash.

The government described the court decision as an affront to freedom of speech and called on the international community to react to attempts by the occupation regime to put a muzzle on dissenting voices.

The decision of the so-called court in Turkish-occupied Cyprus to impose a fine of 260.000 US dollars on the daily Avrupa is effectively tantamount to a prohibition order for the publication of the paper government spokesman Michalis Papapetrou said.

The fine was imposed last week in connection with five law suits filed by Denktash for allegedly libelous articles.

We condemn such moves which undermine freedom of the press and democracy and we call on the international community to show the necessary sensitivity and react to this attempt to silence voices of dissent in occupied Cyprus, Papapetrou said.

In a different development, the Union of Cyprus Journalists has appealed to the ambassadors of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council here to try and persuade Denktash to halt his action against the paper. On Tuesday French ambassador in Nicosia Jean Bernard de Vaivre told the Union he would confer with his counter-parts to see if anything can be done about the matter.

[12] Work begins on archaeological park

An ambitious project to unite important archaeological sites in central Athens with walkways effectively be-gins on Tuesday, with work beginning on the paving of a major avenue at the foot of the Acropolis. Dionysiou Aeropagitou street will be closed to all traffic for the duration of the paving works. It will be the first substantial step towards realizing the project to create a so-called 'archaeological park', first articulated by late Culture Minister Melina Mercouri. On its completion, the park will be comprised of the ancient sites of the Parthenon, the Thisseion, the yet-to-be-built Acropolis Museum at Makriyanni and Hadrian's Arch. The entire project is budgeted at 600 million drachmas and is expected to be completed in August, 2001.

[13] Greek equities fall on correction

Greek stocks changed direction to end sharply lower on Tuesday in what traders described as a normal correction of the market following a five-day rally which pushed the Athens Stock Exchange 20.68 percent higher.

The general index ended 3.56 percent down at 5,588.65 points in heavy turnover of 345 billion drachmas.

Shares in the Insurance, Investment, Industrials and Banks sectors were particularly hit.

Sector indices ended as follows:

Banks: 		10,120.41	-3.76%
Leasing:	1,579.37	-3.84%
Insurance:	3,728.06	-5.22%
Investment:	2,830.75	-5.16%
Construction:	3,704.62	-0.29%
Industrials:	3,499.03	-4.27%
Miscellaneous:	6,989.95 	-4.54%
Holding: 	6,778.56	-3.09%

The parallel market index for smaller capitalization stocks ended 1.50 percent down at 1,678.69 points.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks fell 3.59 percent to 2,911.76 while the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index ended 2.84 percent off at 1,034.11 points.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 230 to 86 with another nine issues unchanged.

A total of 12 shares ended at the day's 8.0 percent limit up while another 22 ended at the day's limit down.

Haidemenos' and Unisystems' shares jumped 188.31 pct and 136.73 pct, respectively, on the first trading day on the market. Unisystems and Panafon were the most heavily traded stocks.

Leading shares closing prices (in Drs.):

National Bank: 		23,730
Alpha Credit: 		25,870
Commercial Bank: 	25,400
Eurobank: 		14,040
Titan Cement (c): 	19,845
Hellenic Petroleum: 	5,325
Intracom: 		15,180
Minoan Lines: 		8,945
Panafon: 		4,760
Hellenic Telecoms: 	8,120

[14] Secondary Market Bonds End Mixed

Secondary market bond prices ended mixed on Tuesday after tracking German securities.

Turnover through the central bank's electronic trading system was 116 billion drachmas, roughly divided into buy and sell orders.

The benchmark 10-year bond showed a yield of 6.61 percent, taking the spread over German bunds to 112 basis points. In the money market, rates held below 10 percent with the overnight rate at 9.20 percent.

The Bank of Greece, or central bank, stepped into the foreign currency market, selling 110 million Euros to curb the drachma's slide. At the daily fixing, the Euro was set at 330.35 drachmas from 329.86 drachmas a day earlier.

The drachma jumped against the US dollar, which was set at 320.41 drachmas from 326.64 drachmas in the previous session.

[15] Stock brokerages show annual turnover jump

Domestic stock brokerages posted turnover of 117.909 trillion drachmas in 1999, sharply higher than around 28 trillion drachmas a year earlier.

Ranking top in overall 1999 turnover was Alpha Brokerage with a 5.75 percent stake, followed by National Securities at 5.30 percent, Sigma Securities at 4.88 percent, Telesis at 4.50 percent, and Hellenic Securities at 4.45 percent.

At the top of the league excluding block trades was Hellenic Securities at 4.98 percent, followed by Sigma Securities at 4.72 percent, Alpha Brokerage at 4.52 percent, Devletoglou Securities at 3.95 percent, and P&K Securities at 3.94 percent.

[16] "Mother of God: Depictions of the Madonna in Byzantine Art", at Benaki Museum

Athens' unique Benaki Museum will celebrate the last year of the millennium with a definitely less glitzy but thoroughly 'ethereal' exhibition devoted to Byzantine art, specifically centering on the depictions of the Virgin Mary through the centuries.

Entitled "Mother of God: Depictions of the Madonna in Byzantine Art", the exhibition is scheduled to open in the autumn and comprise the centerpiece of the museum's 2000 season.

According to a feature article in Monday's issue of "Ta Nea" daily, exhibits will date from the 6th century AD to the 15th century, arriving from museums across Greece and abroad, including Russia and the United States.

According to the organizers, a symposium in Athens during the exhibition's duration hopes to bring together literature experts, theologians, historians, art historians, archaeologists and other scholars for discussions, on among other topics, the relationship between Hellenism and Byzantium.

A wide spectrum of exhibits will focus on Madonna worship as part of public life throughout the roughly 10 centuries of the Byzantine empire's existence, as well as the individual, often mystical, worship of the Virgin Mary by the diverse social strata in Constantinople and around the multinational empire. Ecclesiastical items depicting the Virgin Mary will be displayed alongside priceless jewelry and brassware, wood carvings, ivory reliefs and marble sarcophagi, among others.

"...My primary idea was to show the artistic material that supported the worship of the Madonna," Byzantinist and exhibition coordinator Maria Vassilaki says. "Icons, manuscripts, ivory pieces, enamel; all the samples and all the means with which the face of the Virgin is imprinted. Our goal was to highlight the role played by the capital (Constantinople) in the spread of this type of worship."

[17] Orthodox Patriarchs celebrate end of second Christian millennium

A meeting of Orthodox Patriarchs and presidents of autocephalus Churches is due to start in Jerusalem Tuesday to celebrate the end of the second and the start of the third Christian millennium. Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos who will head celebrations and preside over the Patriarchs' meeting, arrived earlier in Jerusalem from Istanbul.

Vartholomeos was accompanied in his trip to Jerusalem by the Archbishop of Tirana and All Albania Anastasios.

The meeting of the Orthodox Patriarchs and the celebrations are aimed at underlining the spirit of love and unity prevailing in the Orthodox Christian Churches two thou-sand years after their founding, according to representatives of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

The Patriarch of Antioch Ignatios will be absent from the meeting since historical and political reasons prevent him from travelling to Jerusalem from Damascus where his Patriarchate is headquartered. He appointed the Metropolitan of Pergamos Ioannis as his representative who arrived in Jerusalem Tuesday with the Ecumenical Patriarch.

The Patriarch of Alexandria Petros will also be absent due to a sudden illness.

The primates of the Orthodox Churches were officially welcomed at the Jaffa Gate in the historic city of Jerusalem. Representatives of the Christian communities, the consular corps, the city's authorities and crowds of people gathered for the event.

Romanian President Emil Konstantinescu is also in the city of Jerusalem for the Orthodox Church celebrations, while Greek President Kostis Stephanopoulos is due to arrive Wednesday.

[18] Largest ever group of illegal migrants apprehended

The Greek coastguard on Tuesday intercepted a Turkish motorship which had earlier smuggled one of the largest ever groups of illegal immigrants into the country.

The vessel, named the Sky, was intercepted south of the Dodecanese island of Tilos at midday, a few hours after landing 275 illegal immigrants of various Asian and African nationalities on a remote beach on the Cycladic island of Naxos.

According to reports, coastguard officers had to fire warning shots to force the Turkish captain to heed a call for inspection. The Sky was led to the port of Rhodes where the captain and his 10-member crew were charged.

According to some of the illegal immigrants questioned by the Coastguard, the Sky sailed from the Turkish Aegean coast somewhere near the port of Izmir on December 26 or 27.

[19] Veteran politician Markezinis dies

Markezinis was born April 22, 1909 in Athens, and studied law, economics and political science, beginning his career as a lawyer in 1931, and also working as a legal consultant to several firms and foundations.

In 1936 he was appointed legal advisor to King George II and the then royal family of Greece.

During the Nazi occupation, he remained in Greece and was active in resistance organizations. He worked with Archbishop Chryssanthos and was responsible for political issues in a five-member secret resistance organization chaired by Chryssanthos.

In the period 1944-45 he worked for the reinstatement of the monarchy, and in the following year he resigned as royal legal advisor to stand for parliamentary elections. He was elected for the first time as MP as an independent in the Cyclades district, collaborating with the United Nationalist Front.

In February 1947 he set up the "New Party", joined by 18 ERE MPs.

Between January 20 and April 14, 1949 he held his first government post, as minister without portfolio in the Themistocles Sophoulis government.

In 1950, after failing to win any seats in parliament, he dissolved the New Party and was a founding member of the Greek Rally (Ellinikos Synagermos) party.

In 1952 he was elected MP for Athens with the Greek Rally party, which garnered an absolute majority of votes. The party leader, retired Field Marshal Alexandros Papagos formed his first government, and Markezinis took the high-profile post of coordination minister and deputy prime minister, responsible for supervising all the economic ministries and organizations as well as the banking system.

During his term, Markezinis introduced significant reforms in the country's monetary, credit, investments and fiscal policy, including a controversial 50 per cent devaluation of the drachma against the US dollar in 1952, deregulation of foreign trade, securing European credits, the flotation of a domestic loan for financing industrial investments, construction of the country's first oil refinery, and several hydro-electric projects.

As coordination minister, he paid official visits to the US and western European countries, signing economic agreements for the extension of credits to Greece.

In April 1954 he resigned from the government after disagreeing with Papagos on domestic and foreign policy issues and the Cyprus issue, which was at a difficult stage.

In February 1955 he set up the Progressive Party together with 30 other MPs, becoming the main opposition party.

In 1959 he visited the Soviet Union as the official guest of Soviet foreign minister Anastas Mikoyan, the first Greek political leader to make such a diplomatic opening.

In 1961 he was re-elected to parliament in an equal collaboration with the Center Union party. His party secured 15 seats, and Markezinis accumulated the most votes among the MPs elected in Athens.

In 1964 his party collaborated with the National Radical Union (ERE) party, and he was re-elected to parliament for the last time, again earning the most votes among the MPs elected in Athens. His party secured 8 seats.

In 1965, after the collapse of George Papandreou's Centre Union government, Markezinis gave a vote of tolerance to the George Athanassiadis-Novas government of Centre Union defectors.

In 1973 Markezinis, the only major parliamentary party leader to have maintained contact with the military dictatorship, agreed to become 'prime minister' in October, maintaining that he would lead the country to elections and take it out of the military regime.

His government was toppled after the Polytechnic uprising in November 1973. Markezinis himself linked the toppling of his government with his refusal to allow the airports on Crete to be used by the US as refueling bases on their way to Israel in the event that hostilities with the Arab world resumed.

In July 1974 he took part in the meeting of party leaders. His Progressive Party did not participate in the first post-junta elections, nor in the 1977 elections. In the 1981 European Parliament elections, his party elected one deputy.

Markezinis was also a prolific author, best known for his massive history of Greece covering the period 1828 to 1975, while in 1979 he published his memoirs of the 1972-74 period.

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