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Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 97-12-13Macedonian 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: 16:07 GMT+2SECTIONS
NEWS HEADLINES[A] BALKANS[B] EUROPENEWS IN DETAIL[A] BALKANS[01] ANKARA CONTINUES ITS PROVOCATIONWeb Posted: 16:07 GMT+2Ankara 13 December (MPA)Ankara continues to be provocative and reacted strongly to the position adopted by the 15 EU leaders according to which, Turkey can not be a candidate for EU membership unless it accepts the jurisdiction of the International Court, contributes to the improvement of the Greek-Turkish relations and the solution of the Cyprus problem and improves its human rights record.Turkish deputy prime minister Bulent Ecevit stated today that Turkey's exclusion from the EU political decision-making mechanism will create problems to NATO, while Turkish foreign minister Ismail Cem threatened that his government will turn to the United States and the European Union will be at risk of losing his country's political cooperation. He also stated that due to the latest developments there can be no progress in the solution of the Cyprus problem. Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash stated today that the Greek Cypriot side, Greece and the European Union do not want a solution to be found in Cyprus, otherwise they would have treated all sides equally. [02] A PROSECUTOR WAS SENT TO THE GREEK CONSULATE IN GJIROKASTRAWeb Posted: 16:07 GMT+2Gjirokastra 13 December (MPA)A preliminary investigation on bribery accusations takes place in the Greek Consulate in Gjirokastra.A prosecutor and three police officers are already in the Albanian city after press publications according to which, consulate employees take bribes to issue entry permits to Greece for Albanian citizens. [03] FYROM TOOK OVER THE PRESIDENCY OF THE BALKAN CHAMBERS ASSOCIATIONWeb Posted: 16:07 GMT+2Skopje 13 December (MPA)President of the Economic Chamber of FYROM Dusan Petrefski took over the presidency of the Balkan Chambers Association for 1998, after a decision made in the Association's General Assembly meeting that was held in Athens yesterday.Mr.Petrefski stated to the television of Skopje that one of his priorities as the president of the Association will be the promotion of trade transactions among the Balkan companies and the free movement of goods, services, ideas and work force in the Balkan region. [B] EUROPE[04] CYPRUS' EU ACCESSION NEGOTIATIONS WILL START ON MARCH 30Web Posted: 16:07 GMT+2Athens 13 December (MPA)Athens and Nicosia expressed satisfaction for the European leaders' decision to include Cyprus among the states that will participate in the EU accession negotiations and exclude Turkey.In the Luxembourg Summit meeting it was also decided that the process for the EU enlargement and the accession of the 11 new countries, including Cyprus, will start on March 30. Greek prime minister Kostas Simitis characterized the developments as especially pleasant for Cyprus. The EU leaders also accepted all the preconditions Greece has requested that they should be applied on every country that wants to become an EU member, including the recognition of the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Prime minister Simitis characterized the decision to include Bulgaria and Romania in the accession negotiations as very significant for the Greek interests and the role of Greece in the Balkans and the Mediterranean. [05] THESSALONIKI HANDED OVER THE TORCH OF THE CULTURAL CAPITAL OF EUROPE TO STOCKHOLMWeb Posted: 16:07 GMT+2Thessaloniki 13 December (MPA)Thessaloniki handed over to Stockholm the title of the Cultural Capital of Europe in a special ceremony that was held at the Monastery of Lazaristes yesterday.Mayor of Thessaloniki Konstantinos Kosmopoulos stated that the international character of culture was confirmed as Thessaloniki became the crossroads for hundreds of specialized or popular artistic interests and productions. Thessaloniki, stressed Mr.Kosmopoulos, proved culture's collective nature and its ability to annihilate the already small distance separating the European peoples. 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 |