Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 00-01-11

Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

CONTENTS

[01] Greek health services calm about flu epidemic

[02] Simitis, D'Alema address conference ON contemporary Socialism

[03] EMU the issue, government reiterates

[04] Opposition wants 'clarity' from PM on elections

[05] Karamanlis claims ND ready to govern

[06] PM chairs foreign policy meeting

[07] FM to sign bilateral agreements during Turkey visit

[08] Greece reiterates standing position on Cyprus solution

[09] Greek EU Commissioner visits Portugal

[10] Greece's DEH to provide power to Kosovo

[11] Simitis programme for week beginning 10/1

[12] Simitis declared honorary citizen of Aegion, Peloponnese

[13] CPI rises to 2.7 percent in December

[14] Venizelos launches new Diaxon plant

[15] Papademos, Papantoniou hold regular meeting

[16] Panafon posts 55.6% jump Panafon posts 55.6% jump

[17] Hellenic Duty Free announces share capital increase

[18] Edgy drachma slips vs euro

[19] Mutual funds' assets reach 12 trillion drs in 1999

[20] Greek shipping firm eyes move to Baltic Sea

[21] Greek handicrafts sector looks to Europe

[22] Olympic Aviation takes delivery of leased jets

[23] Italy and Greece sign police cooperation agreement

[24] Former NATO chief receives Greek presidential Medal of Honor

[25] Exhibition on Greeks of Egypt to open Tuesday

[26] Teachers call strikes for January, February

[27] Car dives in port waters in Iraklion, Crete

[28] Winter sales to the end of February

[29] Greek FM arrives in Cyprus Tuesday for talks with political leadership

[30] President Clerides receives OSCE French delegation

[31] Cyprus, Poland sign labour agreement

[32] The Athens Dailies at a glance

[01] Greek health services calm about flu epidemic

Greece's health ministry on Monday said it was on watch but not overly concerned about an outbreak of the flu which is apparently sweeping Europe.

A health ministry official on Monday said the ministry was keeping a close eye on developments in neighbouring countries, where the outbreak appeared to have claimed some lives.

To date, there have been no confirmed cases of the specific strain of the virus in Greece, despite earlier reports that two cases have been detected and isolated.

"The number of cases of flu due to the type of virus sweeping Europe is small and sporadic," the official said.

She said that the ministry had taken no special precautions as the situation in public hospitals was no different to the same time last year.

President of the Greek Pasteur Institute Stephanos Hatziyiannis said there was no need for concern on the part of the public, even if the Institute placed some cases in isolation.

This flu, he said, is dangerous for certain groups, such as children with chronic illness, the elderly, those with heart problems and diabetics.

And most of these groups, he added, have already received flu shots to ward off contracting the virus.

In Thessaloniki, the head of the Influenza Centre said that most of the cases reported were of Type B influenza, which did not create the complications that are being seen in the rest of Europe.

She said that, statistically speaking, the centre would place in quarantine 60 to 100 cases of the flu, of both Types A and B, and that most of these cases required only medicine to bring down the fever and rarely presented complications.

Ioannis Rotzokos, vice-president of the Sotiria Hospital, said that there had been an increase in the number of flu type cases but that it was wrong to talk about Greece being in the grip of an epidemic.

"Whether there is an epidemic or not will be apparent at the beginning of the next month, which will indicate whether it is influenza or some other respiratory virus which is responsible for the increased number of cases," he said.

[02] Simitis, D'Alema address conference ON contemporary Socialism

A new relationship between growth and social protection, the building of a safety net meeting the needs of citizens and a sound social security system constitute the key points of a socialist policy today, Prime Minister Costas Simitis said on Monday evening.

"Socialism is not a process which has expired in the era of globa-lisation. It uses the market as a means for the attainment of goals while the state functions as a centre of planning. This is a signifi-cant difference from neoliberalism, which views market organi-sation as an end, accepting a managerial concept of democracy," he said addressing an event on "Progressive governance at the start of the century" at the University of Athens, also attended by his Italian counterpart Massimo D'Alema.

"We believe that in socialism there is considerable room for enlarging democracy. Democracy means participation and joint action by all... The difference between socialism and the conser-vative ideology concerns the quality of life and the rights of Man," he said.

Simitis warned of the danger of manipulation of public opinion by the media.

"The concentration of power is on the increase and democracy is in danger of becoming a decorative garment for an authoritarian society with unchecked protagonists... We stress that progressive governance is summed up in an effort of achieving a balance between the logic of productivity and competitive in the econo-mic sphere and the logic of democracy in the sphere of politics," he said.

D'Alema said democracy and progressive governance are the two basic aspects of the Left in the face of globalisation today.

"We are being called upon to square the circle, harmonising the logic of production -and therefore competitiveness- with social justice, flexibility with guarantees regarding employment," he said.

He further stressed the importance of the creation of supranatio-nal institutions.

"Europe must not be against the USA but share the responsi-bilities in a multipolar world...the defence of the rights of Man must take precedence over the domination of the state," he ad-ded.

D'Alema also praised what he called Greece's "courageous" stand at December's EU Helsinki summit which allowed the Union's door to be opened to Turkey.

"It is Turkey's turn to decide whether to cross the threshold," he said

[03] EMU the issue, government reiterates

The government on Monday reiterated that its leading priority was ushering Greece into economic and monetary union and that holding elections was a secondary consideration.

"We are not in the business of opportunistic politics," govern-ment spokesman Dimitris Reppas told reporters.

He was speaking after Prime Minister Costas Simitis told Sunday newspaper Kathimerini that the issue of when general elections would be held could not be broached before the issue of Greece's entry in to EMU was settled.

Simitis said that he could not commit himself to a specific date for elections "but I can commit myself that I shall not leave the EMU issue to chance."

The comments spurred further speculation in Monday's press on whether the government would spring early elections. The gover-nment's four-year mandate ends in September this year.

"We will not allow anybody to endanger the great achievement of inclusion in economic and monetary union," Reppas said.

"The government will submit its application (for EMU member-ship) in early March and that is when, as the prime minister said, the difficult process of approving the application begins."

The issue of EMU inclusion is of particular importance and it is the duty of the government, as well as all of the country's politi-cal forces, to ensure it is achieved, Reppas said.

Asked, yet again, when elections would be held, Reppas said that the issue was not an immediate concern for the government.

[04] Opposition wants 'clarity' from PM on elections

Main opposition New Democracy on Monday called for the prime minister to 'come clean' on when elections would be called, following weekend statements from Costas Simitis.

"The prime minister has to make clear when elections will be held," New Democracy (ND) spokesman Aris Spiliotopoulos said after a party meeting to approve an extraordinary policy-making congress at the end of March.

ND also postponed its regular party congress until after elections were held. Spiliotopoulos said that Prime Minister Simitis's interview in newspaper Kathimerini on Sunday was "deliberately unclear."

He was joined in his statements by leading ND deputy Dora Ba-koyianni, who said Simitis had to clear up the issue and that the sooner elections were held, the better.

[05] Karamanlis claims ND ready to govern

Main opposition New Democracy (ND) has the qualified people and the necessary ideas to govern the country successfully, party leader Costas Karamanlis said on Monday during an event of the ND womens section in Athens.

Addressing the New Years celebration event organised by the partys womens section, Karamanlis said that employment issues occupy a high spot on his partys priority list, noting that unemployment hit particularly hard women and young people.

Karamanlis also spoke on the ND party conference on ideolo-gical issues scheduled for the end of March.

[06] PM chairs foreign policy meeting

Prime Minister Costas Simitis on Monday morning chaired a meeting of high-ranking foreign ministry officials on foreign policy and the course of Greece's national issues. The meeting was held ahead of Foreign Minister George Papandreou's visit to Turkey on January 20. Papandreou is also expected to conduct a working visit to Cyprus Tuesday.

The aim of Papandreou's visit to Nicosia is to coordinate action by the Greek and Cypriot capitals on the island-republic's accession to the European Union.

[07] FM to sign bilateral agreements during Turkey visit

Papandreou told reporters after the meeting that he would sign about four bilateral agreements when he visited Ankara on January 20.

The agreements arise from contacts between Greek and Turkish officials earlier this year on so-called 'low-level' issues. A total of eight such agreements are expected to be signed.

[08] Greece reiterates standing position on Cyprus solution

The Greek government on Monday said that its positions on a resolution of the Cyprus issue had not changed.

"Our position is a bi-zonal, bicommunal federal solution for Cyprus," government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said.

Reppas was responding to reporters' questions about an article written by a close aide of the prime minister, George Pantayias.

Reppas said that the article did not diverge from standing Greek positions on the Cyprus issue. "Everything else being said about the article bear no relation to reality," he said.

[09] Greek EU Commissioner visits Portugal

Greek European Union Employment and Social Affairs Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou held talks on employment issues with three Portuguese ministers in Lisbon on Monday in the framework of events marking the official start to Portugal's EU Presidency.

Diamantopoulou met with Labour and Solidarity Minister Ferro Rodrigues, Sciences and Technology Minister Mariano Gago and Equality Minister Maria de Belem.

The issues discussed focused on solutions toward viable pension schemes in EU member-states, employment through information systems and other employment issues.

Monday's events, held at Celuz Palace in Lisbon, included the Portugal government's first meeting with the EU's president and all commissioners. The details of issues which the Portuguese Presidency will deal with, were discussed during the meeting.

Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guteres met with EU President Romano Prodi, while the European commisioners held separate meetings with Portuguese ministers.

[10] Greece's DEH to provide power to Kosovo

Greece's Public Power Corporation (DEH) will provide ele-ctricity to the Serbian region of Kosovo on the request of civil administration officials, the government confirmed on Monday.

Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas, responding to reporters' questions, confirmed a report in Athens daily Eleftheroty-pia on Sunday that Bernard Kouchner, the UN civil administrator, had approached the government about DEH providing power to the war-torn region.

Reppas said that DEH would offer the power requested by Kouchner.

[11] Simitis programme for week beginning 10/1

Prime Minister Costas Simitis will chair a meeting on imple-menting various decisions of the European Court on Tuesday morning, government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said.

The meeting will be held with the participation of Education and Religious Affairs Minister Gerasimos Arsenis, Environment, Town Planning and Public Works Minister Costas Laliotis and Alternate Foreign Minister Christos Rokofyllos.

On Tuesday evening, Simitis will chair the first meeting this year of the ruling party's Executive Bureau.

On Wednesday morning, Simitis will preside over a meeting on the armed forces' armaments programme. Invited to the meeting are the minister and deputy ministers of defence, Akis Tsohatzo-poulos and Dimitris Apostolakis, National Economy and Finance Minister Yannos Papandoniou and Deputy Finance Minister Nikos Christodoulakis.

Papandoniou will again meet with the prime minister on Thursday, when he and Bank of Greece Governor Lucas Papade-mos hold a briefing on the course of the economy.

On Friday, Cabinet meets to discuss issues pertaining to the health ministry.

[12] Simitis declared honorary citizen of Aegion, Peloponnese

Region Municipality, the Peloponese declared Prime Minister Costas Simitis an honorary citizen on Monday.

The decision was based on Simitis academic excellence, and his successes a prime minister of the country along with his choice of the municipality as the focal point of his latest northern Peloponese tour.

Greek equities came under renewed profit-taking pressure to end substantially lower on Monday.

Dealers said investors largely ignored a positive picture in international markets as the Greek market was in search of new balancing levels.

The general index ended 1.07 percent lower at 5,353.14 points, off the day's lows of 5.323.40 points. It had started the day with a 1.91 percent jump to 5,514.09.

Turnover was a moderate 233 billion drachmas.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks fell 0.56 percent to 1,703.01, while the FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks eased 0.96 percent to 2,754.97 and the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index dropped 1.54 percent to 1,007.16 points.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 218 to 91 with another 16 issues unchanged.

A total of 13 shares ended at the day's 8.0 percent limit up and another six at the day's limit down.

Panafon, Techniki Olympiaki and Eskimo were the most heavily traded stocks.

[13] CPI rises to 2.7 percent in December

Greece's annual consumer price index (CPI) rose to 2.7 percent in December, compared with the same month in 1998, the National Statistics Service said on Monday.

The NSS said that the CPI rose 0.6 percent from November following monthly rises of 0.5 and 0.8 pct in November 1998 and 1997 respectively.

The final 1999 inflation rate, however, was significantly lower from the two previous years' rates of 3.9 and 4.7 percent in 1998 and 1997.

Nikos Karavitis, NSS's secretary-general, said he expected the consumer price index to continue falling.

Greece's harmonised average inflation was 2.3 percent in December. The EU's harmonised inflation figure was 0.5 percent in November. Karavitis said that 1999 was a "very successful year on the inflation front".

Some of the main factors that contributed in containing inflation below 3.0 percent in 1999 were declines of 3.0 pct in fruit prices, 10.9 pct in cars, 9.4 pct in telephone charges and 15.3 pct in electricity prices. On the contrary, a 41.5 percent rise in heating oil prices burdened the consumer price index by almost half a point. Higher prices were also registered in municipal charges (+11.7 pct), hotel prices (+13.4 pct), olive oil (+17.8 pct) and healthcare cost (+12.4 pct).

[14] Venizelos launches new Diaxon plant

Development Minister Evangelos Venizelos on Monday launched a new plant in Komotini belonging to Diaxon ABEE, a subsidiary of state owned Hellenic Petroleum.

Diaxon produces the full range of polypropylene film (BOPP) for packaging and adhesive tape using advanced technology by Bruchner of Germany.

Hellenic Petroleum has signed an agreement with Straptech and listed MI Mailis ABEE for the two firms to absorb much of Diaxon's output.

Diaxon's plant, which is located in Komotini's industrial zone, has a capacity of 26,000 tonnes a year.

Hellenic Petroleum, a heavily traded stock on the Athens Stock Exchange, is carrying out a vertical integration programme budgeted at 78 billion drachmas, of which Diaxon's factory forms a part.

Venizelos told the inauguration ceremony that the new plant would help to boost growth in the area, which was a government priority.

[15] Papademos, Papantoniou hold regular meeting

National Economy and Finance Minister Yiannos Papanto-niou and Bank of Greece Governor Lucas Papademos on Monday held wide-ranging talks on the economy.

The talks were part of regular two-weekly meetings between the minister and central bank chief, government officials said. No statements were made after the session.

[16] Panafon posts 55.6% jump Panafon posts 55.6% jump

Panafon, one of the country's three mobile phone operators, on Monday reported that it had 1.663 million customers in 1999, up 55.6% on the previous year.

The company said in a statement that the penetration of mobile telephones in the Greek market was estimated at 36% in 1999. Panafon claimed a 16% market share last year, up from 10% in 1998.

The firm's pre-paid business represented 57% of its customer base last year.

Prices in the secondary bond market ended mixed on Monday with buying mainly focused on mid-term paper and selling seen in long-term securities.

Analysts said the market was likely to drop due to uncertainty over price levels in markets abroad and the fact that domestic players had already discounted Greece's entry into the euro zone, which meant that the expectation was unlikely to drive prices up any further.

The benchmark 10-year bond showed a yield of 6.57%, taking the yield spread over German bunds to 112 basis points.

Turnover through the central bank's electronic trading system was 112 billion drachmas with sell orders accounting for 48 billion drachmas of the total.

[17] Hellenic Duty Free announces share capital increase

Hellenic Duty Free Shops on Monday announced a 1.5 bil-lion drachma share capital increase through a capitalisation of reserves.

The increase, approved by the shareholders' general assembly, is to be accompanied by the issue of four free shares for every ten existing ones and will be used to finance the setting up of ten new duty free shops in various Greek airports, a statement said.

The company, 74.75 percent owned by the state-controlled Agricultural Bank of Greece and managed by a group of private enterprises which hold the remaining stake, recorded a turnover of 46 billion drachmas and profits of 13 billion drachmas in 1999.

[18] Edgy drachma slips vs euro

The drachma on Monday showed slight volatility in the domestic foreign exchange market, ending slightly lower against the euro.

At the central bank's daily fixing, the euro was set at 330.750 drachmas from 330.720 drachmas in the previous session.

Also at the fix, the US dollar was set at 323.160 drachmas from 321.130 drachmas on Friday.

[19] Mutual funds' assets reach 12 trillion drs in 1999

Greece's mutual funds' assets totalled 11.933 trillion drach-mas at the end of 1999, up 32.7 percent from the previous year, while their total number rose to 208 from 178 over the sa-me period, according to data by the Union of Institutional In-vestors.

Investors seeking higher returns for their capital turned mas-sively towards the domestic mutual funds' market, which al-though it was established as an institution in 1972, it was recor-ding rapid growth rates in the last three or four years.

The market's assets totalled four billion drachmas at the end of 1985. Five years later assets totalled 146 billion, in 1995 it was 2.4 trillion to end 1999 at 12 trillion drachmas.

Equity mutual funds spectacularily increased their share of the total market from 5.82 percent to 41.63 percent last year.

Currency mutual funds, however, saw their share of the market reduced sharply from 66.31 pct to 38.37 pct.

Analysts said this dramatic change in the composition of the market was evidence that the Greek market was converging with other European markets where equity mutual funds hold the upper.

Fixed-income mutual funds' share fell from 18.67 pct to 11.42 pct in 1999, while combined funds' share dropped from 9.20 pct in 1998 to 8.58 pct last year.

Fixed-income mutual funds, however, retained their leadership in the total number of funds operating in the market with 67 in 1999, followed by equity funds (66), currency (45) and com-bined funds (30).

Domestic equity mutual funds' assets totalled 4.881 trillion drachmas last year, an increase of 931.24 percent from 1998. The sector's average return was 116.56 percent, with 25 mutual funds of the total 53 of the sector yielding more than 140 percent annually.

Alpha Trust New Enterprises topped the list of annual returns yielding 245 percent, followed by Popular Telesis Equity (235.6 pct), Alpha Trust Growth (231.8 pct), Alpha Trust Infrastructure (227.1 pct) and Euro Greek Equities (207.0 pct).

Currency mutual funds' assets fell 23.23 percent last year while their average annual return totalled 14.62 pct. Interamerican Profit yielded 74.1 pct, Athens Domestic Currency (44.1 pct), Cretafund Currency Management (37.1 pct), International Domestic (21.6 pct) and European Credit (18.2 pct).

Fixed-income mutual funds' assets fell 17.27 percent to 1.277 trillion drachmas last year with the sector's average annual return at 15.07 pct. Nine out of a total of 43 funds in the sector yielded more than 20 percent in the year. International Domestic Bonds yielded 32.6 pct, Attica Domestic Bonds 27.2 pct, Beta Bonds 27.0 pct, International Long-term Investments 26.3 pct and Cretafund Domestic Bonds 26.0 pct.

Combined mutual funds' assets rose 28.37 pct to 910.73 billion drachmas. The sector's average annual return was 80.69 pct with almost half of the sector's total 22 funds yielding more than 100 pct. Alpha Trust Eurostar yielded 151.0 pct, Allianz 124.1 pct, Attica 123.7 pct, Triton 117.1 pct and Athens 107.7 pct.

Market analysts and fund managers agree that Greece's mutual funds' market's outlook remained favourable. Investors seemed to be more keen to invest in the sector following the last few years' steady growth in average returns.

[20] Greek shipping firm eyes move to Baltic Sea

Greek passenger shipping firm Attica Enterprises on Monday announced plans to extend its activities to the Baltic Sea with four new superfast ferries currently being constructed at Germany's Kiel shipyard.

"Following the success of our vessels on the Greece-Italy routes, our Group is now expanding with new international lines in Northern Europe, aiming at achieving similarly high returns and providing a high level of service," a statement from the company said.

Superfast VII, VIII, IX and X are expected to ply the Germany-Finland and Germany-Sweden routes as of January 2001.

The new ferries - 204 metres long and 25 metres wide - have a capacity of 604 passengers and 172 cabins and can carry 125 trucks and 100 passenger vehicles.

Travelling at 29.2 knots per hour and equipped with ice-breaking equipment Ice Class 1a Super, Attica Enterprises hopes to bring travelling time between northern Germany and Stockholm down to 17 hours and between Germany and Helsinki to 21 hours.

[21] Greek handicrafts sector looks to Europe

Manufacturers of Greek handicrafts signalled on Monday their determination to get their sector ready to battle for a share of the market in the new millennium.

Battered by falling turnover and orders and losing ground to countries with cheaper labour, sector representatives said on Monday that they were looking to forge alliances with European companies and organisations active in similar sectors. They cited Spain, Italy, France, Britain and Germany as possibilities.

"Total sales fell more than 20 percent last year," president of the Union of Attica Popular Handicrafts Odysseus Koumatos told a news conference.

"On the one side we had war and conflict in the Balkans - the consequences of which we are still paying for - and on the other hand, we had the low buying power of tourists visiting our coun-try."

Both problems had exacerbated already-existing difficulties in the sector, he said.

Teaming up with European countries, he said, could bring more coordinated promotion of handicrafts on the European market, joint participation in trade fairs and better exploitation of the opportunities provided by the Internet.

Koumatos said that Greek handicraft manufacturers were also crippled by a lack of support and training on the part of the Gre-ek state, as well as by the necessary infrastructure needed in relation to exhibition spaces.

"This, of course, has an impact on the participation in Greek shows of European handicraft manufacturers," he said.

The Union of Manufacturers of Popular Handicrafts plans to hold a congress on these issues towards the end of February, in-viting possible solutions to their problems from state and private sectors.

Meanwhile, handicrafts will be on show at the Popular Crafts 2000 trade fair at the OAKA Stadium from January 13-16. The show has drawn the participation of 300 exhibitors.

[22] Olympic Aviation takes delivery of leased jets

Olympic Aviation, a subsidiary of state-run national carrier Olympic Airways, has taken delivery of two leased Boeing 717 jets, the first under a programme to convert its propeller-driven fleet to jets, the company announced Monday.

Olympic Aviation is leasing the two jets, which arrived Sunday, for a monthly fee of 32,000 dollars each, and they will form the basis of the company's new aviation station in Thessaloniki.

At the initial stage, the two jets will be stationed at Athens' Ellinikon airport and will carry out domestic routes until training of the personnel has been completed.

From the end of March, the jets will be stationed permanently in Thessaloniki, and will carry out flights to European destinations -- Stuttgart, Munich, Berlin, Paris, Brussels -- and to Larnaca in Cyprus.

[23] Italy and Greece sign police cooperation agreement

Public Order Minister Michalis Chrysohoidis and his Italian counterpart Enzo Bianco signed a police cooperation agree-ment on Monday morning, boosting cooperation between the two countries in combatting crime and its organised forms.

The agreement places emphasis on combatting illegal immi-gration, the trafficking of stolen vehicles, weapons smuggling, nuclear, radioactive and other materials involved in economic crime.

The talks were attended by Greek Police Chief Ioannis Georga-kopoulos, the Greek Ambassador to Tirana Alexandros Mallias and the director of the International Police Cooperation department Brigadier Nikolaos Tasiopoulos.

"I believe that with the agreement signed today we have laid the foundations for joint cooperation in the wake of the Tampere summit and following the joint proposal by Prime Ministers Simitis and D'Alema on shaping a common policy on security issues, order and confronting crime. I believe that this constitutes a continuation and there will be the tripartite meeting with the Albanian public order minister shortly. I believe that these are the most important factors of the discussions," Chrysohoidis said later.

He said that most of the time was devoted to the Albanian factor and the way of handling crime and stability in the region and in what way the two countries can cooperate in supporting Albania to enable economic development and stability.

"I must admit that it was a very useful and productive discussion and I believe that at the next tripartite meeting, which we proposed to take place in Corfu on February 18 and was accepted by the Italians -and I believe will also be accepted by the Albanians- we will have a more specialised discussion then on the way in which we shall handle the most specific problems," Chrysohoidis added.

A meeting was also held with Albanian Public Order Minister Spartak Poci in the afternoon

[24] Former NATO chief receives Greek presidential Medal of Honor

Former NATO Military Committee Chief Gen. Claus Nau-man on Monday was awarded the Medal of Honor by the Greek President Stephanopoulos for his contribution to the planning and realization of the alliances new structure.

The medal was presented to the General by Greek National De-fence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos.

[25] Exhibition on Greeks of Egypt to open Tuesday

Egypt has been the historical starting point for Greeks in their travels around the world and their relationship with that country has been especially fruitful since ancient times, Athens Mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos said on Monday.

"From the references of Herodotus and Plato until Alexander the Great, the Ptolemies and Cleopatra, from the time of St. Luke and Thebais until the great Cavafy and the Greek communities of more recent times, the relationship between Greeks and the land of Egypt has been especially fruitful," he said at a press confe-rence on the eve of the opening of an exhibition entitled "The Greeks of Egypt - The other side of the Mediterranean," at the Athens Municipal Cultural Centre.

The exhibition, part of a series of events on the theme of Greeks abroad which is sponsored by the Athens Municipal Authority, features archaeological finds, holy relics, rare archive material, works of art and a rich photographic collection. The exhibits ha-ve been loaned by musueums, art galleries and private colle-ctions in Greece and Egypt.

The event is scheduled to open on Tuesday at 8 p.m.

[26] Teachers call strikes for January, February

Highschool teachers called for two 48-hour strikes one in January and the other in February, on Monday, at their first day back at work after the Christmas holiday season.

Pending a final decision by the local teacher union chapter presidiums on Jan. 19, the teachers union decided to call for strikes on Jan 27 to 28 and February 3 to 4.

Meanwhile, student councils called for a rally in Athens on Jan. 14 to show opposition to the educational reforms carried out by the education ministry.

[27] Car dives in port waters in Iraklion, Crete

A couple escaped drowning early on Monday morning as they managed to exit their vehicle, which had fallen into the Iraklion, Crete port waters, authorities said.

Apparently, the couple was driving by the waterfront when their car fell into the same waters that a taxicab fell only last Monday, again without victims, port authorities said.

The Iraklion port authority is conducting an investigation.

[28] Winter sales to the end of February

Annual winter sales began Monday in shops throughout Greece, and were slated to run through the end of February.

Discounts on merchandise ranged from 20 to nearly 60 percent, according to shopowners.

[29] Greek FM arrives in Cyprus Tuesday for talks with political leadership

Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou arrives on the island here Tuesday for a second visit in less than three months, to hold talks with his Cypriot counterpart and meet with the islands political leadership.

Papandreou, will meet Cyprus Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasou-lides in the afternoon. The two will hold talks at the Foreign Ministry and will then give a press conference.

Papandreou will later meet House of Representatives President Spyros Kyprianou.

On Wednesday, the son of the late Greek premier Andreas Papandreou, will be received by President Glafcos Clerides. He will also pay a visit to the Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in Cyprus, Archbishop Chrysostomos.

Papandreou will have meetings with the leaders of the political parties who are represented in the House of Representatives and political party youth organisations.

The Greek FM will confer with Attorney-General Alecos Markides and will also give a speech at a gathering organised by the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry on the latest political and economic developments.

Papandreou concludes his two-day visit to the island on Wednesday evening.

[30] President Clerides receives OSCE French delegation

The leaders of the French delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) expressed readiness to contribute in efforts to achieve progress in the Cyprus talks.

This was stated on Monday by the Chairman of the French delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Michel Voisin who was received, together with the Vice-Chairman of the delegation Jean-Claude Lefort, by President of the Republic Glafcos Clerides.

The French parliamentarians, who are on a three-day visit to the island, also met House of Representatives President Spyros Kyprianou where they assured that when France assumes the European Union rotating presidency it will keep its promises regarding Cyprus.

Speaking to the press after meeting Clerides, Voisin praised the very close cooperation between the delegations of the two countries at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, adding that this cooperation has often resulted in positive amendments to various OSCE documents and declarations.

Voisin described stability in the Mediterranean region as a core issue, adding it was discussed during their meeting with President Clerides.

Stability and peace in the Mediterranean is a result of, and starts from, economic cooperation between its regions, he pointed out.

This is the reason why the French delegation supports the strengthening of cooperation in the Mediterranean with the participation of countries such as Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Israel and Jordan under the partners and not as observers as they are at the moment, Voisin noted.

Asked whether the latest developments on the Cyprus issue were also discussed, he replied positively stressing the French delegations readiness to assist as far as possible in the ongoing negotiations between the two parties in Cyprus.

In a statement after meeting House President Kyprianou, Voisin said that when France undertakes the presidency of the European Union in the second half of 2000 it will respond to the promises it has already made.

A solution can only come through a political settlement of the problem, and should be based on the three principles of the OSCE, that is policy and security, economy and respect of human rights, Voisin added.

[31] Cyprus, Poland sign labour agreement

Poland and Cyprus signed here Monday a cooperation agreement in the fields of labour and social insurance.

The agreement, signed between Cyprus Labour and Social Insurance Minister Andreas Moushouttas and visiting Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labour and Social Policy Longin Komolowski, covers the sectors of labour market policy, labour law, social dialogue, social insurance and social assistance in matters relating to the European Union.

Both Cyprus and Poland are in the first wave of countries to become members of the EU in the next couple of years.

[32] The Athens Dailies at a glance

ADESMEFTOS TYPOS(Mitsis):"Simitis says 'no' to early eloections but...he's preparing for them -- a sedative to the parties --New Democracy on alert".

APOGEVMATINI: " Alert throughout Europe -- people die from the flu".

ATHINAIKI: "Arsenis' 'test' fails -- exams are blown up".

AVRIANI: "New criteria for hirings in the state services -- Peponis' law is changing".

ELEFTHERI ORA: "Half of Greece is in bed and the other half is waiting for its turn -- Greece is turning from a ' vast mad-house... into a 'vast hospital' ".

ELEFTHEROS: Spoke of a "race among candidates" in the ruling PASOK party for the party's 'green' election lists.

ELEFTHEROS TYPOS: "A block in family allowances -- who propose an allowance to both husband and wife".

ELEFTHEROTYPIA: "Anti-flu 'vacine' in ... the Athens Bourse -- what it expects to overcome the nervoussness virus".

ESTIA: "The Prime Minister was clear -- The government will complete its four-year term in office".

ETHNOS: "An alert in all Europe -- the flu is killing in our neighbourhood".

EXOUSIA: " Main points of J.P. Morgan's report -- top foreign banks are waging a battle for the takeover of the Commercial Bank of Greece".

STO KARFI: " A one-use leader" , a reference to the New Demo-cracy party congress in March.

TA NEA: "The big game of the banks -- Greece has the most expensive interest rates in Europe".

TO VIMA: "Athens Stock Exchange: Expectations but chronic awkwardness - The political parties, the predictions and the views of the brokers regarding the developments".

VRADYNI: "15 dead from the flu in Europe as a result of the Type 'A' Russian virus".

Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article