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Saturday, 21 December 2024
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Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 97-06-12Macedonian Press Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.Last Update: 22:38 GMT+2SECTIONS
NEWS HEADLINES[A] GREECE[B] BALKANS[C] EUROPE[D] WORLDNEWS IN DETAIL[A] GREECE[01] THE REVISION OF THE CONSTITUTION IS DISCUSSED IN PARLIAMENTWeb Posted: 16:14 GMT+2Athens 12 June (MPA)The way in which the President of the Greek Republic will be elected was at the center of yesterday's discussion in Parliament concerning the revision of the Constitution. Prime Minister Kostas Simitis stated that the governing socialist party of PASOK seeks to dissociate the election of the President from early elections but the provision's final text has not been drawn up yet.The parties of the opposition, with the exception of the Coalition of the Left, are against the government's proposal. [02] GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON COMMENTS ON ALBANIA'S IMMINENT ELECTIONSWeb Posted: 22:38 GMT+2Athens, June 12 (MPA)The Greek Government will provide assistance, within its abilities, in the efforts to carry out the Albanian elections in a peaceful and fair manner, stated today the government spokeperson Dimitris Reppas.When asked about yesterday's episode in Gjirocaster where the Greek Consulate was fired upon by unknown culprits, Mr. Reppas said that investigations are underway for determining the circumstances under which the episode occurred and the government is trying to ascertain the attack's true dimensions. Meanwhile, Mr. Reppas stated that while the Consulate continues to operate in spite of the three attacks it has undergone, its visa-issuing process has been temporarily halted. [03] MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENSE IN BRUSSELS, MEETS WITH NATO OFFICIALSWeb Posted: 22:38 GMT+2Brussels, June 12 (MPA)Greece's Minister of National Defense Akis Tsochatzopoulos had a series of contacts at the NATO headquarters in Brussels today, within the framework of the Alliance's two-day Defense Meeting.Mr. Tsochatzopoulos met with the NATO General in Europe George Orwen and the two men discussed the possibility of establishing one of NATO's headquarters in Greece. "Greece's position is clear," Mr. Tsochatzopoulos stated, "we want, in the Mediterranean region, the same number of headquarter offices as with the remaining countries, independently of the number that will be finally decided upon." Earlier, Mr. Tsochatzopoulos had met with his Belgian counterpart Eric Rochelet with whom he discussed issues of bilateral interest. [04] NATIONAL ECONOMY MINISTER OPTIMISTIC OF COUNTRY'S COURSEWeb Posted: 22:38 GMT+2Athens, June 12 (MPA)The Minister of National Economy Yiannos Papantoniou characterized Greece's economic course as a positive one, following a session held today between the government's economic council and the Prime Minister Kostas Simitis.Mr. Papantoniou stated that this year's rate of development is to reach the 3.5 % mark and made it clear that the state will not deviate from its already-set course. Aside from Mr. Papantoniou, those participating in the conference were the Minister of Development Vasso Papandreou, the Undersecretaries of Finance George Drys and Christos Pachtas and the Governor of the Bank of Greece, Lukas Papademas. [B] BALKANS[05] THE DIRECT TALKS BETWEEN CLERIDES AND DENKTASH WILL BE HELD ON JULY 9Web Posted: 16:14 GMT+2Nicosia 12 June (MPA)The direct talks between Cypriot President Glafkos Clerides and Turkish- Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash will be held outside New York on July 9-13. The talks will be officially opened by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.British Foreign Undersecretary mr.Doug Henderson stated that reaching a solution for the Cyprus problem is more urgent than ever before and called on the two sides to work with the UN in a constructive way for direct negotiations that will lead to a comprehensive political solution. [06] ALBANIAN PARTY LEADERS ARE VISITING ATHENSWeb Posted: 16:14 GMT+2Athens 12 June (MPA)Albanian Socialist Party leader Fatos Nano is visiting Athens for meetings with Greek Prime Minister Kostas Simitis and government officials.After the meeting he had with Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos and Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Yiannos Kranidiotis, mr.Nano stressed that Athens confirmed its pledge to assist in every way in the holding of democratic elections in Albania. Both mr.Pangalos and mr.Kranidiotis expressed the Greek government's concern over the unconrolled activity of armed gungs in Albania as well as, the dangers faced by the Greek minority. Mr.Kranidiotis expressed the hope that everything will go smoothly in Albania and pointed out that Greece wants the democratization process in the neighbouring country to move forward. Albanian Democratic Party President Tritan Sehu, who is also in Athens, speculated during his meeting with Greek Parliament President Apostolos Kaklamanis that the Greek minority played an absolutely positive role in the recent crisis in Albania. Meanwhile, the tension continues in Albania and the President of the Greek organization OMONIA, Giorgos Lambovitiadis spoke of a climate of terror that prevails in the country due to the attacks by armed gungs. Yesterday, gunmen attacked the Greek Consulate in Gjirokaster. [07] AFANASIEVSKI: TIME AND UNDERSTANDING ARE NECESSARY FOR THE MATERIALIZATION OF NEW INITIATIVESWeb Posted: 16:14 GMT+2Thessaloniki 12 June (MPA)Russian Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Nikolai Afanasievski, commenting on the cautious attitude followed by the Foreign Ministers of Bulgaria and FYROM toward the Greek-Russian initiative for the strengthening of cooperation announced during the Conference of the Foreign Ministers of South-Eastern European countries in Thessaloniki, stated to MPA, that time and understanding are necessary for the materialization of any new initiative for cooperation in the Balkans and South-Eastern Europe.Regarding the criticism made by German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel on the new initiatives in the region of South-Eastern Europe, mr.Afanasievski pointed out that the issue will be discussed in detail by all those participating in the initiative. Referring to the Greek-Russian cooperation initiative, mr.Afanasievski stated that it is based on an idea that had been discussed at a government level in 1993. [08] TANSU CILLER'S "TRUE PATH" PARTY WARNED ERBAKAN TO HAND OVER THE PREMIERSHIP BY JUNE 18Web Posted: 16:14 GMT+2Ankara 12 June (MPA)Tansu Ciller's "True Path" Party, which participates in the Turkish coalition government, warned islamist Prime Minister Necmetin Erbakan to hand over the premiership by June 18 otherwise, the party will withdraw its support from the government.According to political analysts in the Turkish capital, the new warning was issued because the islamist Prime Minister appears reluctant to proceed with the transfer of power if no guarantees are given to him for the holding of early elections in October and the unhintered operation of his Welfare party, which the Turkish justice threatens to outlaw and demand its dissolution. [09] US EMISSARY HOLBROOKE: SOLUTION FOR CYPRUS MUST BE FOUND ASAPWeb Posted: 22:38 GMT+2New York, June 12 (MPA)The United States presidential emissary to Cyprus Richard Holbrooke stated that a solution must be found for the Cyprus issue as soon as possible, speaking to a CNN broadcast.Mr. Holbrooke, who is to take over his duties in mid-summer, stated that if the fragile equilibrium currently noted on the island is upset than it will produce catastrophic results, as both Greece and Turkey are two US allies. However, Mr. Holbrooke stressed that the US are not to impose a solution on the island's two communities. Meanwhile, the United Nations Secretary-General's alternate special envoy to Cyprus Gustav Feischel stated today that the representatives of the President of the Republic of Cyprus Glafkos Clerides and the Turkish- Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash have accepted the invitation to a luncheon on July 8 wherein the participants will determine the framework of the following day's direct talks between the two leaders. [10] STOLEN MANUSCRIPT TO BE RETURNED TO MOUNT ATHOS BY BULGARIAWeb Posted: 22:38 GMT+2Sofia, June 12 (MPA)Bulgaria's President Petar Stoyanov has pledged the return of a rare, 18th- century manuscript that was stolen from the monastic community of Mount Athos.The manuscript, "Slavo-Bulgarian History", was written in 1762 by Paissios Hilendarios to the Agios Gerogios Zographos Monastery on Mount Athos. It was stolen from the monastery in the 1980s and has been on display at Sofia's National History Museum since September 1996. [11] CROATIA: PRESIDENT TUDJMAN CONFIDENT OF RE-ELECTIONWeb Posted: 22:38 GMT+2Zagreb, June 12 (MPA)Croatia's President Franjo Tudjman appeared confident on the likelihood of his re-election to the post, by stating today that the presidential elections to be held in Croatia on Sunday will result in an unprecedented victory for him.President Tudjman stated that "my re-election is certain. The victory will be unprecedented and this is not according to my estimates, but in accordance with the signs I receive from the voters." Sunday's elections will be the second held in Croatia since the state's declaration of independence in 1991. [C] EUROPE[12] PRIME MINISTER SIMITIS LEAVES FOR AMSTERDAM ON SUNDAYWeb Posted: 16:14 GMT+2Athens 12 June (MPA)Greek Prime Minister Kostas Simitis will leave for Amsterdam on Sunday to attend the European Union Summit meeting which will open on Monday morning.Meanwhile, according to the British newspaper "Guardian", 331 economists and academicians from 14 EU countries in an open letter to the leaders of the 15 EU member-states demand the amendment of the plan for the European Economic and Monetary Union in the Summit in Amsterdam. They also point out that the existing tough regulations on public spending are not founded on any economic basis and is possible to make recession even worse. In the open letter, they mention that the EMU does not deal with the problem of the 20 million unemployed and the 50 million, who live beyond the poverty line in Europe and they demand the revision of the EMU criteria for the creation of more jobs and economic development. [D] WORLD[13] THE MEETING OF THE PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW WITH THE POPE WAS CANCELLEDWeb Posted: 16:14 GMT+2Moscow 12 June (MPA)The meeting of Patriarch of Moscow, Alexios with Pope John-Paul, scheduled to take place in Vienna on June 21, has been cancelled.In a brief statement issued by the Holy Synod of the Russian Church is mentioned that the necessary preconditions, which would have made the meeting possible, do not exist. [14] US GOVERNMENT OFFERS $2 MILLION REWARD FOR "NOVEMBER 17" INFORMATIONWeb Posted: 22:38 GMT+2Athens, June 12 (MPA)The United States government is offering a two-million-dollar reward for information that will "lead to the arrest and conviction of persons or groups who have committed terrorist acts against American individuals or property".According to the press release issued by the US embassy in Athens, the appeal is part of the US government's efforts to work closely with Greece and falls under the counter-terrorism rewards program which was established in 1984 as a deterrent to global terrorism, administered by the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service. When asked why it was the American and not the Greek government which declared the reward, Greek government spokesperson Dimitris Reppas responded that it is a process that has been issued by the State Department in the past as well. "The US government has expressed its interest, since there have been four US citizens who have fallen victim to these attacks, and the US Embassy's compound in Athens, being the property of the United States, was subject to a rocket attack in 1984. It falls within the framework of a policy followed by the US government. Greece, as well, has in the past followed a similar policy," Mr. Reppas said. Terrorist action against Americans in Greece so far has resulted in the deaths of four US civilians, Richard Welch, George Tsantes William Nordeen and Ronald Stuart, while another 28 have been injured. Complete archives of the Macedonian Press Agency bulletins are available on the MPA Home Page at http://www.mpa.gr/ and on the U.S. mirror at http://www.hri.org/MPA/Macedonian Press Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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