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Athens News Agency: News in English, 97-02-02

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

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


NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 02/02/1997 (ANA)

MAIN HEADLINES

  • Cultural Capital opening in Thessaloniki
  • Bank of Greece monetary policy 1997 statement
  • International media focus on Cyprus issue
  • Settlement of FYROM name issue may be at hand
  • Athens to host European Sailing Week
  • Earth tremor north of Athens
  • Fire on motorship off Lavrio
  • Crucial week ahead for farmers and teachers

    NEWS IN DETAIL

    Cultural Capital opening in Thessaloniki

    President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos yesterday evening officially declared open the Cultural Capital of Europe '97 during a ceremony held in the Company for Macedonian Studies' theatre, attended by hundreds of Greek and foreign guests.

    An artistic programme followed, depicting Thessaloniki's course through antiquity, Byzantium, the diaspora and the 20th century.

    Those attending the event included Prime Minister Costas Simitis, the cabinet, main opposition New Democracy party leader Miltiades Evert and representatives of all political parties (apart from the Communist Party of Greece, which has refused to participate) as well as more than 40 culture ministers from European, Balkan, Mediterranean and Black Sea countries.

    However, due to lack of space in the theatre, which opened specially for the event and will close again in May for renovation work to be continued, Thessaloniki residents and journalists were unable attend. Journalists covered the opening ceremony in the neighbouring Thessaloniki Guards Officers Club, through the use of a 'video wall'.

    This evening's ceremony began with a speech by the president of the Cultural Capital Organisation, Thessaloniki mayor Constantine Kosmopoulos, who spoke of the importance of the event being organised by the northern Greek city.

    "It was obvious that our city could not follow the example of Athens, nor did it posess the infrastructure of Paris. But it was time for us to determine our own separate role through our existing abilities," Kosmopoulos said.

    The mayor of Copenhagen, Vibeke Storm Rasmussen, handed over the title of Cultural Capital of Europe to Thessaloniki "with many expectations" during the ceremony.

    Rasmussen spoke of his city's experiences during 1996, when it held the title, noting that culture became part of everyday life, with 65 per cent of Copenhagen's population participating in the events.

    In his speech, Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos stressed the importance of culture as "the most crucial fibre for the safeguarding of social cohesion."

    He stressed that Thessaloniki converted its nomination as Cultural Capital of Europe into an operation to improve its infrastructure as far as buildings and institutions were concerned. "Thessaloniki this year is unearthing its historical past, ... its cosmopolitan character and it is discovering the materials with which it is constructing its modern appearance with Balkan, Mediterranean and Black Sea characteristics," he said.

    During the opening ceremony, a message was read from Ecumenical Patriarchate Vartholomeos, who praised the organisers and congratulated those who supported the choice of Thesssaloniki as Cultural Capital of Europe.

    An official dinner was held after the end of the opening ceremony, addressed by Simitis.

    Bank of Greece monetary policy 1997 statement

    Creating conditions for monetary stability through de-escalating inflation is the chief goal of Greece's monetary programme for 1997, according to a statement by Bank of Greece Governor Lukas Papadimos yesterday. Only under such conditions can Greece hope to achieve a high growth rate and participation in the European Monetary Union (EMU), it noted.

    The goal is to get inflation down to 4.5% by the end of this year and below 3% by the end of 1998. The Bank's strategy in containing inflationary pressures is to be the same as that followed over the past two years, i.e. a stable drachma exchange rate and keeping monetary expansion within boundaries consistent with the desired fall in inflation.

    The announcement stresses that while the direction of the exchange rate will remain anti-inflationary, it will be managed more flexibly than in the past.

    With regard to the rate of increase of the money supply in the broadest sense (M3), it is noted that this must be consistent with the desired fall in inflation, therefore the intermediate target for the M3's rate of increase during 1997 is expected to be between 6% and 9%. (The M3 consists of cash in circulation, private sight deposits, savings and long-term deposits, repos and bank bonds.)

    The Bank of Greece will shortly begin adjusting interventionary measures in the money market, aimed at a more efficient exercise of monetary policy as well as bringing these measures in line with the operational framework expected to be used in the EMU. Thus, the Greek banking system will have enough time to adjust and gain the necessary experience to function competitively within the single European market, exploiting to the full all opportunities offered by the exercise of a joint monetary policy by the European Central Banking System, concludes the announcement.

    International media focus on Cyprus issue

    Russian media report unofficial statements that Russia can provide the necessary military technology to protect SS-300 anti-aircraft missiles from Turkish air attacks when they are deployed in Cyprus. according to an official of the Russian Ministry of Defence Industries.

    According to the Itar-Tass news agency, an official of the Russian Ministry of Defence Industries who wished to remain anonymous said that the "Touman" (fog) electronic warfare system was available and that it has the capabilty to "blind" the radars of enemy aircraft making them susceptible to anti- aircraft weapons.

    It is the second time in the space of a week that Russian news media raise the possibility of Russian weapons being used in Cyprus, other than the the S-300 system that the island republic has already agreed to purchase. The Cyprus issue as a whole also receives greater than usual coverage by Russian media lately.

    In an unrelated development accross the Atlantic, an article published in the US newspaper "Washington Post" claims that Cypriot President Glafkos Kliridis has made secret undertakings to the American government to avert the stationing of Greek militar aircraft in an Hellenic Air Force base currently under construction on the island, at least until the end of his current presidential term. The paper claims the undertaking was made to US envoy Kerry Cavanaugh when he visited Cyprus recently along with the commitment not to deploy the Russian missiles for another sixteen months, to give the Americans enough time to act on the longstanding issue of the Turkish occupation.

    The paper claims that although the US government has pledged to focus on the Cyprus issue, it is reluctant to pressure Ankara and it's Islamist leader Netchmetin Erbakan fearing the loss of his cooperation against Russian desigs in central Asia and that it might be pushing the Turkish government to closer ties with Irak.

    Agreement on FYROM name dispute may be at hand

    Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos effectively announced in Parliament Friday that Greece's dispute with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) was approaching a settlement.

    "When realising that a solution is to the benefit of the national interest, a responsible government must endorse it and not surrender to blackmail," he said.

    The foreign minister was replying to a main opposition New Democracy question regarding the issue. Mr. Pangalos said that special United Nations mediator Cyrus Vance was expected to turn in his mandate and that "everything now depends on the UN Security Council."

    Describing as "one-sided" the Sept. 13, 1995 New York interim agreement between Greece and FYROM, Mr. Pangalos went on to say that neither Prime Minister Costas Simitis nor himself had any involvement in the course of this issue over recent years.

    Elaborating on likely developments over the issue, following Mr. Vance's pending resignation as special mediator, Mr. Pangalos said two possibilities were likely. He noted that the UN Security Council will either recognise the neighbouring country by the name "Macedonia" or, "in the best development for us, it will recognise it (FYROM) under a composite name."

    The foreign minister said the issue had reached a point where all political parties, especially the main opposition party, will have to take a clear position.

    Athens to host European Sailing Week

    The Athens Municipality is offering its full support for the European Sailing Week "EUROLYMP", to be held off the coast of Faliro from March 8- 12.

    At a meeting yesterday, Athens Mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos made all the municipality's services available to the event's organising committee. It was decided to display Olympic sailing craft in Syntagma Square and in front of the Panathenian Stadium, along with information booths. Lighting and special effects will be contributed by the city of Athens.

    Earth tremor north of Athens

    An earth tremor measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale was recorded at 1.50 a.m. this morning, its epicenter located 34 km. northeast of Athens in the sea off the port of Rafina. The tremor was felt in Athens' northern suburbs, but no damage has been reported.

    Fire on motorship off Lavrio

    Fire erupted in the engine room of motorship "Armenistis" while sailing 3 nautical miles off the port of Lavrio in the south Evoikos Gulf this afternoon.

    The captain of the vessel George Hatzioannou and his eight member crew tried to combat the blaze but were soon forced to abandon ship and board rescue launch "Kastelorizo" to safety.

    The cause of the fire on the motorship, which was carrying no cargo, is as yet unknown.

    Crucial week ahead for farmers and teachers

    The following week will be crucial for the farmers and teachers of the country as they find themselves in a direct collision course with the government. The farners appear unyielding in their resolve to block main roadways while the teachers continue their strike for the third week. The government has clearly set its position of no further financial concessions to both groups. The farmers have already decided to cut the country in two if their demands are not met. PASOK ruling party executive meetings this week will determine the stance of the government on the issues, anticipated to be tough.

    SPORTS

    1st division soccer results

    Kavala-Xanthi 5-2 Paniliakos-Edessaikos 4-0 Aris-Panahaiki 0-0 Ionikos-Athiniakos 0-1 Panathinaikos-Apollon 0-2 Veria-FKalamata 1-0 OFI-Olympiakos 0-1 Iraklis-PAOK Kastoria-Kavala 3/2/1997

    WEATHER

    Cloud with localised rain and sleet, low temperatures, moderate to strong notherly winds and the possibility of snowfalls on high ground is forecast for eastern Greece tomorrow. The rest of the country is expected to remain overcast. Temperatures in Athens will range from 1 to 6 C, and from -3 to 3 C in Thessaloniki.

    FOREIGN EXCHANGE

    Friday's closing rates - buying US dlr. 255.063 Pound sterling 408.823 Cyprus pd 519.808 French franc 46.297 Swiss franc 180.147 German mark 156.339 Italian lira (100) 15.850 Yen (100) 210.264 Canadian dlr. 189.016 Australian dlr. 194.129 Irish Punt 405.976 Belgian franc 7.575 Finnish mark 52.391 Dutch guilder 139.188 Danish kr. 40.970 Swedish kr. 35.343 Norwegian kr. 39.303 Austrian sch. 22.216 Spanish peseta 1.846 Portuguese escudo 1.559

    (M.S.)


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