Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 97-08-11

From: Macedonian Press Agency <mpa@philippos.mpa.gr>

Macedonian Press Agency: News in English Directory

MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH

Thessaloniki, August 11, 1997

NEWS IN ENGLISH

[A] NATIONAL NEWS

[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

TITLES

[A] NATIONAL NEWS

[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

NEWS IN DETAIL

[A] NATIONAL NEWS

[01] GREEK F.M. TO RECEIVE HIS YUGOSLAV COUNTERPART IN ATHENS TOMORROW

Greece's Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos is to meet with the Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Milan Milutinovic in Athens tomorrow. The two men will discuss the development of bilateral relations, the overall situation in the Balkans and the establishment of peace in the region, following the application of the Dayton Agreement. A.F.

[02] INCREASED NUMBER OF TOURISTS HAVE VISITED KAVALA AND THASOS

An increase of 15%, compared to the same period last year, has been recorded in the number of tourist arrivals at the northern Greek city of Kavala and the northern Aegean island of Thasos, according to data provided by the Greek Tourist Organization regional office.

In Kavala, the increase of tourists from Eastern Europe is estimated between 10-30%, while a small increase of 4% has been recorded in the number of Western Europeans who have chosen this northern Greek city for their vacations.

Meanwhile, in Thasos, there has been a notable increase in the number of tourists from Scandinavia and Eastern Europe.

[03] ATHENS '97 WORLD ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS END SPECTACULARLY

The Sixth World Athletics Championships came to a close in Athens yesterday, with a spectacular ceremony at Athens' Panathinaikon Stadium where, for the past ten days, over 2,000 athletes from 201 countries competed for the coveted championship.

A great number of them are departing Greece today and police have taken draconian security measures at the airport.

The next World Championships are to be held in Seville, Spain ion 1999.

The "Athens '97" event is rightfully hailed as the best athletic event ever for Greece as Greek athletes exceeded everyone's expectations and came away with distinguishing achievements.

Niki Xanthou earned a silver medal in the long jump, the first ever won by Greece in this competition, with a score of 6.94 M.

Kostas Gatsioudis earned the bronze medal in the javelin throwing competition, with a throw of 86.64 M.

Olga Vasdeki earned the fourth place in the triple jump, having lost the bronze medal by an iota of a difference to the Ukrainian athlete.

George Panagiotopoulos came fifth in the 200M race, a first participation for a Greek athlete.

Labros Papakostas achieved sixth place in the high jump, the same rank he had earned in the Atlanta-held Olympic Games.

Christos Meletoglou earned the seventh place in the triple jump, scoring a new record for Greece at 17.12M.

In the discus competition, Stella Tsikouna earned the seventh place in the finals with a performance of 61.92 M. A.F.

[04] HAILSTORM DESTROYS OVER 12,000 ACRES IN CENTRAL GREECE

An unexpected hailstorm that lasted less than one hour destroyed 12,500 acres of crops in central Greece on Saturday night.

This is the third consecutive year that adverse weather conditions have caused extensive damages to the farming industry, this time damaging tons of cotton, sugar beets watermelons and grain produce. A.F.

[05] GREEK AIRPLANE SKIDS ON HERAKLION AIRPORT'S RUNWAY, NO HARM CAUSED

A passenger plane of Olympic Airways transporting the Association of Heraklion Sprots Fans (OFI) to Iceland, skidded on the airport's runway today, when the craft's two rear wheels went bust during take-off, but the would-be accident was avoided through the calm-headedness of the pilot. A.F.

[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

[06] THE TWINNING OF THE CITIES OF ALEXANDROUPOLIS AND BURGAS IS UNDERWAY

The municipalities of Alexandroupolis in northern Greece and Burgas in Bulgaria are about to sign a protocol for the twinning of the two cities. A municipality of Alexandroupolis delegation, headed by mayor of Alexandroupolis Eftherios Yioftsidis, will visit Bulgaria for this purpose on August 29.

The mayor of Alexandroupolis stated that the two cities have in common not just the oil pipeline, because regardless of the course of this project it has been decided that new routes of cooperation will be opened in other significant sectors such as, the economy, trade and culture.

[07] INTERNATIONAL MEETING OF EUROPEAN AND ASIAN BUSINESSMEN IN BANGOG

The second meeting "Asia-Europe Business Forum" that will be held in Bangog, Thailand on November 13-14 will contribute to the improvement of relations between the business communities in Europe and Asia.

During the meeting, that will be held within the framework of the enacted Europe-Asia dialogue ("Asia-Europe Meeting-ASEM"), will be discussed issues concerning trade, investments, infrastructure, small-medium sized businesses and tourism.

[08] ALBANIA RETURNS GRADUALLY TO NORMALITY

The by-elections, that were held yesterday in a peaceful manner in two constituencies in the Albanian north, were a positive indication that Albania returns gradually to normality, as the police regains its prestige and makes its presence visible bringing a sense of security to the citizens.

The deployment of special forces to two southern cities for the arrest of armed gung members that was decided by Interior Minister Neritan Tseka, is placed within the framework of the efforts for the restoration of order and normality, and according to BBC, the Albanian police has regained the control of two main road arteries in the region.

[09] PRIMO NEBIOLO ADMITS: ORGANISATION OF "ATHENS '97" WAS PERFECT

The organisation of the sixth World Championships in Track and Field was "perfect", according to the President of the International Amateur Athletics Federation Dr. Primo Nebiolo.

Greece's Undersecretary of Athletics Andreas Fouras stated that the Greek sports fans were exemplary in their behavior.

"They came to the stadium with an unprecedented love for athleticism," he stated. A.F.

[10] CLERIDES AND DENKTASH EMBARK ON DIRECT TALKS IN GLION THIS EVENING

The second round of direct talks between the President of Cyprus Glafkos Clerides and the leader of the Turkish-Cypriots Rauf Denktash began this evening in Glion, Switzerland, and will be held until August 16.

Also present at Glion is the United Nations Secretary- General's special adviser for the Cyprus issue Diego Cordovez. Mr. Cordobez is to meet with the British special envoy to the Cyprus issue Sir David Hannay and in turn will meet with officials from the European Union and the European Commission.

The agenda of the talks will be specified on a daily basis and Mr. Cordovez is expected to submit a document that could be transformed into a joint declaration. A.F.

[11] TURKISH COUPLE TO WED ON THE IMIA ISLET ON SEPTEMBER 1, PEACE DAY

A Turkish couple is to wed on the Imia islet, the rock that nearly brought to war Greece and Turkey two years ago, on September 1, the day that will be inernationally celebrated as "Peace Day."

The two, Turgay Gunes and his bride-to-be Fatos Giukmen, are members of the Association of Volunteers for the Environment and are from Alikarnassos. A.F.

[12] CLERIDES AND DENKTASH TO MEET IN GLION, SWITZERLAND, THIS EVENING

The second round of direct talks between the President of Cyprus Glafkos Clerides and the leader of the Turkish-Cypriots Rauf Denktash is to begin this evening in Glion, Switzerland, and will be held until August 16.

Mr. Clerides has not referred to the details of the talks. Also present at Glion is the United Nations Secretary-General's special adviser for the Cyprus issue Diego Cordobez. Mr. Cordobez is to meet with the British special envoy to the Cyprus issue Sir David Hannay and in turn will meet with officials from the European Union and the European Commission.

The spokesperson of the Cypriot government Manolis Christofides reiterated that the Greek-Cypriot side is approaching the discussion with "absolute good faith and a spirit of cooperation, aiming at achieving progress in the Cyprus issue and reaching a solution." A.F.

[13] RADOVAN KARADJIC ABANDONS POLITICS FOR GOOD

Radovan Karadjic is to withdraw from the political arena of the Bosnian-Serbs, as was agreed upon from the recent visit of US diplomat Richard Holbrooke to Bosnia.

Mr. Holbrooke, who is the US's former Undersecretary of State, met with the Serb co-president in Bosnia's collective leadership Momcilo Kraisnic and demanded that Mr. Karadjic be removed from office. A.F.

[14] SERB RENEWAL MOVEMENT WILL PARTICIPATE IN SEPTEMBER 21's ELECTIONS

The Serb Renewal Movement, a party founded by Vuc Drascovic, is to participate in the general elections that will be held in Serbia on September 21, thereby differentiating its position from the remaining opposition parties that insist on abstaining from the voting process.

Mr. Drascovic said that his party will take part in the elections because he believes that the President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosevic will keep the promises he made in regards to freeing state-owned media and that the elections will be supervised by observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Nevertheless, Mr. Drascovic did leave open the possibility that his party will reconsider its participation if the above- mentioned commitments undertaken by Milosevic are not kept.

Meanwhile, Mr. Drascovic's former allies in the now- dismantled tripartite coalition party "Zajedno", are not to participate in the elections. Zoran Djindjic's Democratic Party and Vesna Pecic's Serb Citizen's Union have stated that the conditions under which the upcoming elections will be held are not fair for the opposition parties. Earlier, the Democratic party of Serbia, led by Voislav Kostunica, had announced its decision to abstain from the elections.

Up to date, the following parties are to participate in the elections: the governmental coalition of Serbia, which comprises the Socialist Party, the Yugoslav Left and the New Democracy Party; the Serb Radical Party, led by Voislav Seseli, and Druscovic's Serb Renewal Movement. A.F.

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/