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The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 99-09-02
From: The Hellenic Radio (ERA) <ert.ntua.gr/>
CONTENTS
[01] NEW MEASURES SUPPORT AGRICULTURAL SECTOR
[02] ND LEADER OUTLINES PARTY'S ECONOMIC PROPOSALS
[03] FOREIGN MINISTER SEEKS CONSENSUS ON TURKEY'S EU AID ISSUE
[04] EU SUPPORT FRAMEWORK FUNDS FOR GREECE
[05] GREEK PRESIDENT FETES MEDAL-WINNING GREEK ATHLETES
[06] CYPRUS PROTESTS KILLING OF GREEK-CYPRIOT
[07] LORD BYRON HONOURED BY ATHENS UNIVERSITY CONFERENCE
[01] NEW MEASURES SUPPORT AGRICULTURAL SECTOR
Prime Minister Costas Simitis announced a package of measures yesterday
to boost farmers' incomes. The announcement was made after a meeting
the prime minister had with the leadership of the Ministry of
Agriculture, National Economy Minister Yiannos Papantoniou and the
governor of the Agricultural Bank of Greece Petros Lambrou. The package
includes an allocation of 9.5 trillion drachmas for the next 7-year
period to guarantee farmers' income and agricultural development,
cheaper loans to farmers, an increase in pensions, settlement of debts
and compensation for weather-damaged crops. Responding to the
announcement, the New Democracy party charged that the government was
showing a very belated interest in the agricultural sector, while the
Coalition of the Left described the measures as pre-election promises.
[02] ND LEADER OUTLINES PARTY'S ECONOMIC PROPOSALS
The leader of the main opposition New Democracy party, Costas
Karamanlis, gave a press conference yesterday, designed to present his
party's proposals on economic policies. The opposition leader referred
to the need for a new developmental programme and reforms in the role
of the state. He placed special emphasis on economic restructuring in
the public sector, expressing confidence that it was possible to cut
expenditures further, which would in turn mean a surplus for the
country's economy. Mr Karamanlis also proposed that certain taxes be
scrapped and others lowered, and that a number of measures need to be
taken to protect small investors in the prospering Athens Stock
Exchange. Commenting on Mr Karamanlis' statements, government spokesman
Dimitris Reppas said the press conference was given to conceal New
Democracy's lack of policies and programmes. He also described the move
as a political ploy and maintained that the positions presented were
merely a repetition of the usual vague assertions.
[03] FOREIGN MINISTER SEEKS CONSENSUS ON TURKEY'S EU AID ISSUE
Foreign Minister George Papandreou continued his contacts yesterday
with the country's political party leaders, in view of the upcoming
European Union foreign ministers council in Helsinki this weekend.
Yesterday morning, he met with National Defence Minister Akis
Tsohatzopoulos, and in the afternoon, with his predecessor, Thodoros
Pangalos. In statements made after the meeting, Mr Pangalos said he was
against the lifting of the Greek veto on Turkey's financing from the
EU's fourth funding protocol, but said other funds should be utilised
to assist Turkey for humanitarian reasons. Deputy foreign minister
Yiannos Kranidiotis, in a recent interview with the American television
network CNN, clarified that Greece's consent to the granting of
economic aid to Ankara did not mean Athens was lifting its veto on the
funding protocol. In a meantime, an EU spokesman said that the European
Commission has proposed an allocation of funds amounting to 30 million
euros as emergency aid to Turkey to reconstruct the earthquake-hit
regions.
[04] EU SUPPORT FRAMEWORK FUNDS FOR GREECE
Over 15 trillion drachmas will be made available to Greece during the
period 2000-2006 within the context of the 3rd community support
framework, according to National Economy minister Yiannos Papandoniou.
Infrastructure, education, health and agriculture will absorb the
largest shares. Major development projects under way will be completed,
while employment and agriculture will be boosted. Development rates of
4% will be sought through the new package while with the completion of
the program, unemployment will drop to 6.5% compared to the present
10.8%. Those funds cut out for industry will be almost wholly
chanelled to the support and modernisation of small-to-medium
enterprises.
[05] GREEK PRESIDENT FETES MEDAL-WINNING GREEK ATHLETES
The president of the Greek republic, Costis Stephanopoulos, yesterday
received the Greek team that won six medals at the recent World Track
and Field Championships in Seville, Spain. The president said the
athletes made millions of greeks very proud, and paid tribute to the
sacrifices they made to attain such a high level of achievement.
[06] CYPRUS PROTESTS KILLING OF GREEK-CYPRIOT
The Cypriot government has lodged strong protests with the United
Nations and other international organisations about the killing of
69-year-old Greek-Cypriot Stelios Harpas by a Turkish settler, in the
occupied sector of the island. The Harpas family belong to the
dwindling community of elderly Greek-Cypriots, out of the original
population of more than 25,000, who chose to remain, after the northern
third of Cyprus was occupied by Turkey in 1974. Meanwhile, there are
indications that the United States, the European Union and other
countries have expressed interest in a Cyprus solution, according to
Cypriot foreign minister Ioannis Kassoulidis. He added that it now
remains to be seen whether the international factor is determined to
exert pressure on Turkey, which so far, he pointed out, has not given
any sign of goodwill whatsoever. The Cypriot foreign minister said that
statements about a confederation and about recognition of the
self-styled state in northern Cyprus showed that Turkey did not want a
solution -- on the contrary, he maintained, it was seeking a
consolidation of the status quo. As long as the Turkish side sticks to
this stand, the Cyprus issue cannot be solved, concluded Mr
Kassoulidis.
[07] LORD BYRON HONOURED BY ATHENS UNIVERSITY CONFERENCE
Athens University yesterday honoured the memory of Lord Byron, an avid
philhellene, who participated in the Greek revolution of 1821, against
the Ottoman Empire. The opening ceremony was attended by President
Costis Stephanopoulos, while the conference was addressed by
Development Minister Evangelos Venizelos and the Public Works
undersecretary, Christos Verelis. The conference will wind up on
September 8 in Ioannina.
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