The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 05-05-20

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From: The Hellenic Radio (ERA) <www.ert.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Strategic Partnership Between U.S. and Greece Strategic Partnership

By Tina Valaoura

Tonight, U.S. President George W Bush welcomed Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis in the Oval Office for the second time this year. Shortly after the Prime Minister spoke of a cordial and productive conversation, during which the excellent bilateral relations and the will for a closer partnership in the areas of mutual interest, aimed at the promotion of freedom and peace, were confirmed. Earlier, the U.S. President spoke of the commencement of a strategic partnership. Mr Karamanlis mentioned that during the meeting, the FYROM name issue and Greek-Turkish relations, among others, were examined, issues that the U.S. President comprehended the Greek positions. On the occasion, the Greek Prime Minister sent a clear message to FYROM and Turkey on their stance thus far. He also made reference to the interest for stability in the Balkans, and of finding a resolution for the Cypriot conflict.

In a Warm Climate

George W Bush welcomed the Greek Prime Minister in his office in the White House shortly after 20:00.

The two men exchanged a warm handshake and Mr Bush wished Kostas Karamanlis the best on his name day tomorrow. During the first statements they gave before the start of the official discussions, the U.S. President spoke of the close partnership between the two countries for the expansion of freedom and peace, while he referred to the success of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. "I was sure you would make it and that is why I sent my family," said the U.S. President. From his part, Mr Karamanlis confirmed the excellent relations between the two countries, and noted that Greece and the U.S. have common aims and will continue working closely for their achievement.

Mr Karamanlis met with Chairman of the Senates Foreign Relations Committee, Richard Lugar to whom he presented the range of national issues and briefed him on the Greek positions.

Translated by Eirene Nisiriou

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Prime Minister in the US

[02] Jordan Has Decided Eirinaios Renounced

By Tina Valaoura

Sources: NET- NET 105.8

This afternoon, Jordan ratified the Jordanian Cabinets decision of Patriarch Eirinaios renouncement by a Royal Decree. King Abdullahs decree, which was publicized shortly after 18:00 Greek time, and based on a 1958 bill, removes Mr Eirinaios from his office as the Patriarch of Jerusalem. Jordans actions will initiate further developments, since the green light is given to the Holy Sepulcher Brotherhood and Phanar to elect a suffragan that will attend to the procedures, which will lead to elections. It is expected that that the Decree will be published in the Government Gazette in the coming days, and following that it will be promulgated to the Patriarchate.

Translated by Eirene Nisiriou

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Carte Blanche Authorization

Eirinaios' Intervention

[03] 145,000 pupils for 81,000 places Battle of the Exams is Joined

By Athina Saloustrou

On Saturday, the final school exams for pupils in ordinary Lyceums start, while pupils in evening Lyceums are joining the battle for a place in a university or polytechnic on Monday. For the first time, this year only the pupils in the third year of Lyceum are sitting the exams. 81,000 places in tertiary education will be fought over this year by 145,000 pupils. According to the Ministry of Education, for pupils in III Lyceum, the first examinations will be in subjects examined at a national level, according to the programme, and this will be followed by exams in subjects examined at a school unit level. In contrast, exams for pupils in Years I and II, which start today (Friday) and will go on until 17 June, will be held based on the programme at each individual school. Besides this, from 14 to 18 June, there will be special entrance examinations for graduates of II TEE (Technical Professional Schools) to enter polytechnics. These will be followed from 21 to 28 June by exams in specialist subjects at a national level.

Translated by Millie Williams

[04] All Set for the Final

By Dimitris Alexopoulos

Saturday will be a day of finals. The Greek Cup final, the English Cup final and the Eurovision final are all taking place on the same night. Greek interest will firstly focus in Patras, the biggest city of the Peloponnese, where Olympiacos and Aris will battle it out for the Cup trophy at 19:00. After that, all eyes will turn to Kyiv, where Helena Paparizou will sing in the Eurovision Song Contest, aiming for the top. As far as Helena is concerned, we wish her all the best. Concerning Olympiacos and Aris, we wish for a spectacular match with many goals and may the best team win. Everything is set for the great and spectacular night and all that is left for us to do is sit back and enjoy the show.

Olympiacos Is the Favourite

This is the first time ever that the two teams will be competing against its other in a final.

Olympiacos, which is considered the favourite, is hoping to conquer the double, ie win the Greek Cup and the Greek football championship. On the other hand, Aris will be heading for Patras with a multitude of problems burdening the team and zero confidence, since the sports tribunals decision led to their relegation to Division two.

However, anything can happen in a final, since on a number of occasions the outsiders have turned the tables and won titles. Some typical examples include the 1976 Cup final, where Iraklis beat Olympiacos in the penalties by 6-5 (4-4 final score); the 1979 final, where Panionios defeated AEK by 3-1, although the latter was chasing its second consecutive double; the 1980 final, where Kastoria defeated Iraklis by 5-2; and finally the 1998 final, where Panathinaikos lost to Panionios by 1-0.

Football finals always seem to offer a great show to fans, and that is what we are all looking forward to this year as well.

No Problems with Players

The two teams are already in Patras and none of them seem to be having any problems as far as the players are concerned.

Dusan Bajevic decided to include all the players in the squad, but he will not be making any changes to the initial lineup, using the same players as he did in the match against Panionios on Sunday.

The Serbian-Greek coach will probably use Giannis Taralidis as a key player for the third consecutive time, leaving Ieroklis Stoltidis, who has fully recovered from his injury, on the bench.

On the other hand, the only problem Giorgos Chatzaras is facing seems to be Fernando Sanhurho, who is still injured, but who is hoping to play in Patras, even if is with painkillers.

The referee of the match will be Giorgos Kasnaferis.

Road to the Final

Round 1 Veria-Olympiacos 0-0 1-5 Kavala-Aris 2-1 1-4 Round 2 Olympiacos-Kallithea 1-0 2-3 Atromitos-Aris 0-5 0-3 Round 3 Iraklis-Olympiacos 1-0 0-2 Aris-Ethnikos 2-1 2-1 Quarterfinals Kastoria-Olympiacos 2-1 1-5 Aris-Kalamaria 0-0 1-1 Semifinals Aris-Xanthi 1-2 2-0 ΑΕΚ-Olympiacos 0-1 1-2 (OT)

The Golden Bible

1931-32 ΑΕΚ-Aris 5-3 1932-33 Ethnikos-Aris 2-2 and 2-1 1933-1938 Did not take place due to financial reasons 1938-39 ΑΕΚ-PΑΟΚ 2-1 1939-40 Panathinaikos-Aris 3-1 1940-1946 Did not take place due to the war 1946-47 Olympiacos-Iraklis 5-0 1947-48 Panathinaikos-ΑΕΚ 2-1 1948-49 ΑΕΚ-Panathinaikos 2-1 (OT) 1949-50 ΑΕΚ-Aris 4-0 1950-51 Olympiacos-PΑΟΚ 4-0 1951-52 Olympiacos-Panionios 2-2 and 2-0 1952-53 Olympiacos-ΑΕΚ 3-2 1953-54 Olympiacos-Doxa Drama 2-0 1954-55 Panathinaikos-PΑΟΚ 2-0 1955-56 ΑΕΚ-Olympiacos 2-1 1956-57 Olympiacos-Iraklis 2-0 1957-58 Olympiacos-Doxa Drama 5-1 1958-59 Olympiacos- Doxa Drama 2-1 1959-60 Olympiacos-Panathinaikos 1-1 and 3-0 1960-61 Olympiacos-Panionios 3-0 1961-62 No Cup was awarded, due to the violent incidents that took place during the final (Olympiacos-Panathinaikos) 1962-63 Olympiacos-Pierikos 3-0 1963-64 The final was not played, due to the violent incidents that took place during the semifinal (Panathinaikos-Olympiacos) 1964-65 Olympiacos-Panathinaikos 1-0 1965-66 ΑΕΚ-Olympiacos 2-0 (without a match) 1966-67 Panathinaikos-Panionios 1-0 1967-68 Olympiacos-Panathinaikos 1-0 1968-69 Panathinaikos-Olympiacos 1-1 (Panathinaikos was drawn to win trophy) 1969-70 Aris-PΑΟΚ 1-0 1970-71 Olympiacos-PΑΟΚ 3-1 1971-72 PΑΟΚ-Panathinaikos 2-1 1972-73 Olympiacos-PΑΟΚ 1-0 1973-74 PΑΟΚ-Olympiacos 2-2 and 4-3 in the penalties 1974-75 Olympiacos-Panathinaikos 1-0 1975-76 Iraklis-Olympiacos 4-4 and 6-5 in the penalties 1976-77 Panathinaikos-PΑΟΚ 2-1 1977-78 ΑΕΚ-PΑΟΚ 2-0 1978-79 Panionios-ΑΕΚ 3-1 1979-80 Kastoria-Iraklis 5-2 1980-81 Olympiacos-PΑΟΚ 3-1 1981-82 Panathinaikos-Larissa 1-0 1982-83 ΑΕΚ-PΑΟΚ 2-0 1983-84 Panathinaikos-Larissa 2-0 1984-85 Larissa-PΑΟΚ 4-1 1985-86 Panathinaikos-Olympiacos 4-0 1986-87 OFI-Iraklis 1-1 and 3-1 in the penalties 1987-88 Panathinaikos-Olympiacos 2-2 and 4-3 in the penalties 1988-89 Panathinaikos-Panionios 3-1 1989-90 Olympiacos-OFI 4-2 1990-91 Panathinaikos-Athinaikos 3-0 and 2-1 1991-92 Olympiacos-PΑΟΚ 1-1 and 2-0 1992-93 Panathinaikos-Olympiacos 1-0 1993-94 Panathinaikos-ΑΕΚ 2-2, 3-3 (OT) and 4-2 in the penalties 1994-95 Panathinaikos-ΑΕΚ 1-0 (OT) 1995-96 ΑΕΚ-Apollo 7-1 1996-97 ΑΕΚ-Panathinaikos 0-0, 0-0 (OT) and 5-3 in the penalties 1997-98 Panionios-Panathinaikos 1-0 1998-99 Olympiacos-Panathinaikos 2-0 1999-00 ΑΕΚ-Ionikos 3-0 2000-01 PΑΟΚ-Olympiacos 4-2 2001-02 ΑΕΚ-Olympiacos 2-0 2002-03 PΑΟΚ-Aris 1-0 2003-04 Panathinaikos-Olympiacos 3-1

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

[05] In the Context of the Forum in Varna Meeting Between Papoulias and Sezer

By Vivian Papastefanou

Sources: NET 105.8- ANA

The Presidents of Greece and Turkey, Karolos Papoulias and Ahmet Sezer had a discussion that lasted 25 minutes in the context of the forum for "Cultural Passages," in Varna, Bulgaria. In the meeting, according to diplomatic sources, the relations between Greece and Turkey were discussed, while the need for their improvement and once more our countrys support to the European prospect of the neighboring country was stated. According to the same sources, the two sides decided that incidents should not be created, as they are not for the best interest of the two countries, and underlined the importance of a partnership between Greece and Turkey in a cultural level. During the meeting that took place in a positive climate, Ahmet Sezer invited Karolos Papoulias to visit Turkey.

In a Positive Climate

Mr Papoulias, soon after he exchanged a warm handshake with President Sezer was heard saying, "I am very happy that we had the chance to talk," and added "however as neighbors we should do so." During the meeting, and before the journalists exited from the hall of the Imperial Hotel, Mr Papoulias was heard saying to President Sezer that he has a historical privilege, as he has been a Foreign Minister for many years and has met with twelve of his Turkish counterparts. In the context of the Varna Forum, the President of the Republic met consecutively with President of Croatia, Stjepan Mesi&#263;, President of Bosnia Herzegovina, Niko Lozan&#269;i&#263;, Serbia Montenegro Filip Vujanovi&#263;, as well as General Director of UNESCO, Koichiro Matsuura and General Secretary of the Council of Europe, Terry Davis.

Translated by Eirene Nisiriou

[06] Turkish Aircrafts Entered the Greek FIR Turkish Provocations in the Aegean

By Vivian Papastefanou

This morning, forty-four Turkish fighter aircrafts illegally entered the Aegean, most of them being armed. In 18 cases the Turks violated Greek national airspace in central Aegean. In all of the cases, the Turkish aircrafts were recognized and intercepted from Greek fighter aircrafts, while in four cases the interception procedure turned into a scramble. As it was made known, 12 Turkish formations were armed, while four aircrafts were Phantoms equipped with cameras. At the same time, in northern Crete, the NATO Navy Force was performing operations, which the political and military leadership of the Alliance is monitoring under the Greek frigate "Themistoklis." Defense Minister Spilios Spiliotopoulos, welcoming NATO General Secretary Mr Shefer and NATO Operations Commander General Jones, noted among others that the governments of the area have the political will and decisiveness for the counter of instability problems that exist in the Mediterranean.

Translated by Eirene Nisiriou

[07] Patras Police on Full Alert

By Ilias Papaioannou

The Panpeloponisiakos Stadium in Patras is reminiscent of an impenetrable fortress, in view of the Greek Cup final against Olympiacos and Aris, on Saturday, at 19:00. Several hours before the big rendezvous, 300 policemen will be inside and outside of the stadium, while 40 groups of Riot Police Squad will take up the chaperonage of the fans of the two teams during their arrival and their departure. In the stands of the stadium, the policemen will create security zones between the rival fans that will attend the game. It is expected that Olympiacos fans will be around 8,000 and Aris 5,000.A few hours before the game all outside of the stadium will be closed-off.

Translated by Eirene Nisiriou

[08] Naomi's String of Bad Luck

By Vagelis Theodorou

Supermodel Naomi Campbell seems to have had a run-in with bad luck in Cannes recently. The catwalk gazelle was scheduled to appear in a charity event at a famous club, but it was cancelled at the last minute, as the stylist ran off with the clothes. As per the models agent, Naomi had invited 50 VIPs to lunch, while a fashion show and an auction were set to take place at the same time, with proceeds going to the Nelson Mandela Childrens Foundation. The model was waiting for the stylist to arrive aboard a yacht, which she rented for her accommodation, for two hours, but it was in vain, since he was nowhere to be found. As she had no clothes to wear at all, she had to borrow a dress. Naturally, the show was cancelled, but Naomis bad luck did not stop there. Cashing in on her absence and posing as one of her security guards, an unknown managed to snesk on board the yacht and steal 37,000 euros worth of jewellery.

Translated by Vicky Ghionis

Related Links:

Naomi Campbell

[09] Holy Synod Gave to Archbishop Christodoulos Carte Blanche Authorization

By Vivian Papastefanou

This morning, the Continuous Holy Synod of the Church of Greece held an unscheduled meeting in view of the Panorthodox Conference in Phanar, on Monday. It authorized Archbishop Christodoulos to handle the Jerusalem Patriarchate issue carte blanche during the conference and appointed the Hierarchs that will accompany him. The Synod, as the Syros Metropolitan Bishop Dorotheos announced, was briefed on the existing written documents that were at its disposal on the issue of the Jerusalem crisis, before it decided to authorize Archbishop Christodoulos. As Mr Dorotheos noted, the Archbishop has held many meetings with regulators, Hierarchs and others in order to get a conclusive view of the developments. In closing, he announced that it was decided that the Archbishop will be accompanied by the head of Regulation Issues, Fillipon Metropolitan Bishop Prokopios and by Mr Dorotheos himself.

Translated by Eirene Nisiriou

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[10] Troublemakers Taken to Prosecutor

By Anna Kourti

Sources: NET 105.8

Nineteen youths have been taken to the Prosecutor, after the clashes that took place on Thursday night, in Exarcheia and at the Attica Police Directorate (GADA). Extended damage was made to cars, stores and banks, while more than 140 suspects were taken to the Police Directorate at Alexandras Avenue. The Greek police are also concerned about the finding of a hand grenade near the scene of the incidents.

Translated by Eirene Nisiriou

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[11] Fifteen people on 17 charges Supreme Court Requests Indictment

By Athina Saloustrou

Supreme Court deputy Public Prosecutor Giorgos Sanidas ordered Antonis Plomaritis, Chief Public Prosecutor of the Athens Court of Appeals, who will now conduct the main interrogation, to indict people in the extrajudicial case. The indictment involves four felonies; deception, legalizing funds from criminal activities through profession and abuse of power, as well as 13 misdemeanours. Facing the charges are 15 people: nine judges, three lawyers, Archimandrite Iakovos Giosakis, who has been remanded in custody, a doctor and a court employee, who are all involved in the extrajudicial gang.

Judges, Lawyers and Giosakis

The order concerns the crimes:

Participating in the gang which involves Iakovos Giosakis, deputy Appeals Prosecutor Nikos Athanasopoulos, First Instance justices Antonia Ilia and Panagiota Tsevi, as well as lawyers Sakis Kechagioglou, Mr Nikolakopoulos and Mr Emmanouilidis. Receiving bribes as a judge, involving Antonia Ilia. Bribing a judge, involving lawyers Sakis Kechagioglou and Mr Nikolakopoulos. Direct collaboration in bribing a judge, involving lawyer Sakis Kechagioglou Failure to declare interest in order to be excluded from a case, involving Ilia, Athanasopoulos, Tsevi, First Instance judge Potamianos and the wife of the judge, Georgia Lambropoulou False testimony, involving NIMITS doctor Emmanouil Niotis. Incitement to false testimony, involving Ilia and Giosakis Altering a public document, involving court employee Anastasis Karatzas. Incitement to the above acts, involving Giosakis. Violation of the law on intermediaries, involving Ilia and Emmanouilidis. Deception, involving Ilia Deception through profession, involving Giosakis Violation of duty, involving Ilia, Athanasopoulos, Tsevi, First Instance Judge Aspasia Basta, First Instance Judge Anna Korovesi, Potamianos, Lambropoulou, Karatzas and Appeals Court Deputy Prosecutor Antonis Mitis Abuse of power, involving First Instance Judge Maroulio Daviou Legalisation of income from criminal activities, involving Giosakis, Ilia and Nikolakopoulos.

Translated by Millie Williams

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