Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 97-09-04

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

Macedonian Press Agency: News in English Directory

MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH

Thessaloniki,September 4, 1997

NEWS IN ENGLISH

[A] NATIONAL NEWS

[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

TITLES

[A] NATIONAL NEWS

[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

NEWS IN DETAIL

[A] NATIONAL NEWS

[01] GREECE’S POLICY IN THE BALKANS WILL BE THE MAIN POINT OF PRIME MINISTER SIMITIS’ SPEECH IN THESSALONIKI

Greece’s policy in the Balkans, the Black Sea region and Eastern Europe will be the key points of the speech Prime Minister Kostas Simitis will deliver in the official opening of the 62nd Thessaloniki International Trade Fair. The Prime Minister will put emphasis on the outcome of the government policy and will make announcements on the big projects in Thessaloniki and northern Greece.

Prime Minister Simitis will arrive in Thessaloniki tomorrow afternoon accompanied by cabinet members and the formal opening of the International Trade Fair will take place at 8pm.

[02] GREECE WANTS PEACE

Greek Minister of Defense Akis Tsochatzopoulos in an interview to the Turkish newspaper “Turkiye” gave the assurance that Greece wants peace and the solution of the Greek-Turkish differences through dialogue.

Mr.Tsochatzopoulos stated that war will be against the interests of both countries and added that Greece supports the solution of disputes through dialogue. He stated characteristically that “if Turkey gets closer to us, then we will get closer to Turkey”.

[03] THE DECISION ON THE HOST CITY OF THE 2004 OLYMPIC GAMES WILL BE MADE TOMORROW

The crucial voting that will determine which city will be the host of the 2004 Olympic Games will take place tomorrow afternoon among the International Olympic Committee members.

Greek Undersecretary of Sports mr.Fouras, who is in Lausanne, stated that he is optimistic. Candidate cities are Athens, Rome, Stockholm, Buenos Aires and Cape Town.

[04] THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE ANCIENT GREEK TECHNOLOGY WILL BE REVIVED IN THESSALONIKI

Interesting announcements on the mining activities and metallurgy in the ancient Greek world will be made in the 1st International Conference on Ancient Greek Technology that opened in Thessaloniki today with the participation of over 250 scientists and scholars from Greece and abroad.

The conference is organized by Thessaloniki’s Technical Museum and the Society for the Study of the Ancient Greek Technology.

[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

[05] THE NEW US COORDINATOR IN CYPRUS WILL VISIT ATHENS, ANKARA AND NICOSIA

New US State Department special coordinator in Cyprus mr.Tom Miller will visit Athens, Ankara, Nicosia and other European capitals on September 7-20. The announcement was made by US alternate US State Department spokesman Jim Foley, who added that mr.Miller is well-briefed on the Cyprus problem.

Later, mr.Miller will meet with State Department officials and with US presidential envoy Richard Halbrooke to brief him on the outcome of his visits.

Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel after the meeting he had in Bonn with Cypriot Foreign Minister Yiannakis Kasoulides pointed out that his country does not associate the Cyprus problem with Cyprus’ accession into the European Union and does not regard the solution of the problem as a pre-condition for the completion of Cyprus’ EU accession course.

[06] A DUTCH EURO-DEPUTY CALLED FOR THE OPENING OF THE EU ACCESSION NEGOTIATIONS WITH CYPRUS

Dutch Euro-Deputy Jean William Bertens, who presented the Cypriot candidature for EU membership to Euro-Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee, called for the immediate opening of accession negotiations with Cyprus based on the European Union decisions.

Mr.Bertens maintained that Cyprus’ candidature is different in every way from the candidatures of Eastern and Central European countries. He stressed that Cyprus has no communist past and therefore does not face the problems of those countries as it has a stable economy and democracy for a number of years and is ready to participate immediately in the Economic and Monetary Union.

Regarding the political aspect of the Cyprus problem, he pointed out that the EU has decided the opening of accession negotiations on the grounds that the process will help in the efforts to find a solution, while referring to the recent second round of direct talks between Cypriot President Glafkos Clerides and Turkish-Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash he condemned the intransigent position adopted by the Turkish-Cypriots.

[07] THE DEPOSIT ACCOUNTS IN THE “BEOBANKA” BRANCH IN CYPRUS REMAIN “FROZEN”

The accounts deposited in the “BEOBANKA” branch in Cyprus remain “frozen” after a decision made by the Central Bank of Cyprus.

The above are mentioned in the Ljublijana newspaper “Delo” which writes that in a meeting Cypriot Foreign Minister Yiannakis Kasoulides had with a Slovenian delegation he stated that “BEOBANKA” will not be able to use the money until the pending court case between Slovenia and Yugoslavia is settled, adding that the Cypriot authorities are watching closely the bank’s deposits.

[08] SPAIN SUPPORTS CYPRUS’ ACCESSION INTO THE EUROPEAN UNION

Spanish Senate President Juan Barero Valverde, who is on a formal visit to Cyprus, expressed the support of Spain to Cyprus’ accession into the European Union.

Mr.Valverde met with Cypriot Parliament President Spyros Kyprianou and expressed the hope that the accession negotiations will start in 1998.

The Spanish official stated that his country has no doubt on which side is right and added that is ready to offer every possible assistance toward this direction.

[09] THE AHEPA WILL GIVE A FORMAL DINNER IN WASHINGTON IN HONOR OF THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH

The formal dinner that will be given by the Greek-American organization AHEPA in honor of Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos in Washington on October 21 will be one of the most significant events for the Greek-American community.

In the formal dinner will be present Archbishop of America Spyridon and many leading members of the Greek-American community.

[10] MILOSEVIC SUPPORTS ELECTIONS IN BOSNIA

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia President Slobodan Milosevic expressed the belief that the only way out of the political crisis in the Serb Republic of Bosnia is the simultaneous holding of parliamentary and presidential elections that will be monitored by the OSCE.

The same position is shared by Bosnian Serb army leader general Pero Tsolic.

[11] LAKES IN HUNGARY ARE POLLUTED BY RADIATION THAT LEAKED FROM CHERNOBIL

The Hungarian authorities banned fishing in nine lakes near Budapest where the radiation level recorded is much higher than the allowed limit.

According to the BBC radio, the radiation level in those lakes is 20 times higher than allowed and the scientists who made the tests have stated that the concentration of cesium 137 isotopes found in the mud of the man-made lakes, which are located 30 kilometers north of the capital, is possibly the result of the 1986 nuclear accident in Chernobil.

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