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Thursday, 26 December 2024
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BRIEF GREEK NEWS BULLETIN (27/02/1996) 2oFrom: Macedonian Press Agency <mpa@uranus.ee.auth.gr>Macedonian Press Agency News in English DirectoryBRIEF GREEK NEWS BULLETIN BY MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCYFebruary 27, 1996TITLES[01] EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER ADVISES GREECE TO REMAIN CALM[02] PASOK SPOKESPERSON COMMENTS ON MINISTERIAL COUNCIL[03] BRITISH PRESS CRITICIZES EU COUNCIL'S LACK OF MEETING OF MINDS[04] BELGIAN PRESS LIKENS GREEK-TUKRISH DISPUTE TO A SOCCER MATCH[05] CYPRUS WEEK COMMENCES IN THESSALONIKI TOMORROW[06] PASOK LEADER'S HEALTH STEADILY IMPROVING[07] FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATE REPORTNEWS IN DETAIL[01] EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER ADVISES GREECE TO REMAIN CALMThings are not as gloomy as some would like them to appear, stated today the European Union's Commissioner on Foreign Affairs Hans Van Den Broek, in an attempt to lessen the tension created by yesterday's meeting of EU Foreign Ministers during which the 15 members did not arrive at a commonly agreed upon resolution regarding the Aegean Sea crisis."Greece has no reason to be disappointed by the outcome yesterday's session," Mr. Van Den Broek said, adding that "there is not a problem without a solution." The Commissioner explained that the Council's statement referring to the greek-turkish crisis, which in the end did not receive the stamp of approval by the Council as a whole, while it is not of a legally binding nature, it continues to maintain an integral political significance. Mr. Van Den Broek advised the greek government to proceed calmly into the Ministerial Council of March 25, which will prepare the Council for the imminent Union of Turkey with the Community, scheduled to take place on March 26. The Commissioner suggested that Greece begins to examine the various ways and the alternate solutions that exist regarding its protest of Turkey's Customs Union with the Community. [02] PASOK SPOKESPERSON COMMENTS ON MINISTERIAL COUNCILThe greek government appears pleased with the outcome of yesterday's Ministerial Council of the European Union, given that, according to Greek Minister of Press and Media Dimitris Reppas, Greece's european allies for the first time embraced the greek positions on the recent Aegean Sea crisis.Specifically, according to Mr. Reppas, the turkish territorial claims in the region constitute an issue of international law concern that should be brought before the International Court of Justice at The Hague, although Turkey itself could resort to this venue. Moreover, referring to various critics that have accused the Greek Premier Kostas Simitis as being overly optimisitic regarding the results brought about by his recent tour of european capitals, Mr. Reppas reminded that Mr. Simitis himself applied a "measure of success" to his tour. It would be an overstatement to say that the greek government is boasting, said Mr. Reppas, adding that it would be equally unfair not to recognized its success, which is displayed in the fact that Greece's european allies recognize the problems created by Turkey and have suggested the route of the International Court at the Hague. [03] BRITISH PRESS CRITICIZES EU COUNCIL'S LACK OF MEETING OF MINDSIn the aftermath of the European Union's Foreign Ministers Council meeting held yesterday, during which a consensus was not reached on the greek-turkish dispute, England's Financial Times sternly wrote that the Council's "inability to arrive at a common position, corroborates the existing doubts of the EU's ability to formulate a common and solid foreign policy."Meanwhile, the british press today reported on the british objections to the greek-turkish issue, although an unnamed british diplomat speaking to the european issue of the "Wall Street Journal" stated that while his country may have presented verbally the strongest objections to the declaration, other countries were not particularly willing to sign this declaration. "The whole issue is of such sensitive nature that it is difficult to find agreement between Greece and other european countries," the diplomat is quoted as having said. When a Foreign Office representative was asked if the british government was influenced by pressures of euroskeptic deputies in the ruling party, he responded that "Mr. John Major was very busy on Monday with other critical issues." [04] BELGIAN PRESS LIKENS GREEK-TUKRISH DISPUTE TO A SOCCER MATCHBelgium's "Le Soir" newspaper reported today on the greek- turkish dispute with an article titled "Greece-Turkey: The Match Continues."On a more serious note, the belgian paper reports on Greece's objections to the granting of economic funding to Turkey by the Community and quotes Italy's Foreign Minister Suzanna Agnieli, who holds the Presidency of the Council, as saying that Athens will demand from the future turkish government to formally commit itself not to declare war against Greece." [05] CYPRUS WEEK COMMENCES IN THESSALONIKI TOMORROWCypriot products and services will be the center of attention during tomorrow's commencement of the third "Cyrpus Week" festivities that will take place in Thessaloniki's Helexpo facilities at the city's International Fair grounds.Participating at the Exhibition will be cypriot exporting companies and organizations in the areas of food, clothing, dairy products, toy industry, pharmaceuticals, furniture, building supplies, etc. An official gala, scheduled for tomorrow evening, will inaugurate the Exhibition and will be attended by the Cypriot Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism Yiannis Christofis as well as by the Minister of Macedonia-Thrace Philippos Petsalnikos. [06] PASOK LEADER'S HEALTH STEADILY IMPROVINGMarking the 100th day of his hospitalization, the medical bulletin issued today by the Onasion Cardiosurgery Center reports that Andreas Papandreou continues to show improvement in his health condition.The PASOK leader and former Prime Minister underwent dialysis this afternoon. Starting tomorrow he will be subjected to a series of examinations that will test his respiratory and renal functions, thereby assessing Mr. Papandreou's readiness to be released from the hospital. The treating physicians estimate that the likeliest date of Mr. Papandreou's release will be next Saturday, March 2, although it is not ruled out that his hospitalization could be extended throughout the following week. [07] FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATE REPORTCURRENCY FIXING BUY SELL ECU 303.7600 302.8490 304.6710 U.S. Dollar 239.2300 238.5120 239.9480 Deutsche Mark 164.8000 164.3060 165.2940 UK Sterling 368.4500 367.3450 369.5550 French Franc 47.9550 47.8110 48.0990 Swedish Crown 35.6970 35.5900 35.8040 Danish Kroner 42.6500 42.5220 42.7780 Norwegian Crown 37.7560 37.6430 37.8690 Italian Lira 15.3780 15.3320 15.4240 Swiss Franc 202.6400 202.0320 203.2480 Spanish Peseta 1.9564 1.9505 1.9623 Finnish Mark 53.1300 52.9710 53.2890 Yen 230.3400 229.6490 231.0310 |
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