Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 98-06-24
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, June 18, 1998
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] PRESIDENT OF GREECE EMBARKS ON OFFICIAL VISIT TO CYPRUS
TOMORROW
[02] DRAFT BILL ON LABOR RELATIONS RELEASED TODAY
[03] STATE-WIDE EXAMS CONTINUE
[04] SOUTHERN ITALY: GREEK LANGUAGE DECLINING, BUT CULTURE IS
THRIVING
[05] GREEK TOURISM ORGANIZATION EMPLOYEES HOLD WORK STOPPAGES
[06] SOCCER: ARIS TO BE SOLD TODAY, KONTOMINAS MOST LIKELY BUYER
[07] SIMITIS: THE EFFORTS FOR STRUCTURAL CHANGES WILL CONTINUE
[08] "PAPASTRATOS": THE INDUSTRY PLANT IN BUCHAREST WILL COST 1.2
BILLION DRACHMAS
[09] PRESIDENT STEPHANOPOULOS WILL BE IN CYPRUS TOMORROW
[10] THE UNIVERSITY ADMISSION EXAMS CONTINUE
[11] INFLATION IN GREECE WILL BE AT 4.9% BY THE END OF 1998
[12] CHINESE BUSINESS DELEGATION IN THESSALONIKI
[13] TOMARAS: THE UNITY OF SAE REMAINS UNSHAKABLE
[14] NICHOLAS BURNS IN THESSALONIKI
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[15] HOLBROOKE ARRIVES IN KOSSOVO TODAY, TALKS WITH MILOSEVIC
UNPRODUCTIVE
[16] TURKISH JETS VIOLATE CYPRUS'S AIR SPACE
[17] SPANISH PLANE'S HIJACKER TALKED SUCCESSFULY INTO
SURRENDERING
[18] CYPRIOT FM: WE'D CANCEL S-300 IF TURKEY WITHDREW SOME
TROOPS
[19] BELARUS ACCUSES WEST OF DOUBLE STANDARDS IN DIPLOMATS RECALL
[20] GREEK PRODUCTS TO BE SAMPLED IN FYROM
[21] ARMED CLASHES AT THE OUTSKIRTS OF PRISTINA
[22] GLIGOROV: "MY COUNTRY WILL NOT CHANGE ITS NAME"
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] PRESIDENT OF GREECE EMBARKS ON OFFICIAL VISIT TO CYPRUS
TOMORROW
The President of the Hellenic Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos
is to embark on an unprecedented visit to Cyprus tomorrow, and the
island's authorities are preparing a magnificent welcome reception
for the Greek head of state.
President Stephanopoulos is scheduled to arrive tomorrow
morning at 11, for a four day official visit, the first of a
Greek head of state since the establishment of the Republic of
Cyprus, in 1960.
He will be received at the Larnaca airport by Cypriot
President Glafkos Clerides. An hour later, President
Stephanopoulos will be receive the "golden key" of Nicosia, given
to him by the city's mayor.
President Clerides stated that Mr. Stephanopoulos' visit
takes place at a very critical period for Cyprus, during which "we
need the greater possible support and Greece is our most loyal
supporter. "
During his stay, Stephanopoulos will also by received by the
President of the House of Representatives Spyros Kyprianou and the
Primate of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus, Archbishop Chrysostomos.
He will also have meetings with party leaders and address a
special session at the House of Representatives.
The Greek President will be escorted by Greek Foreign
Minister Theodoros Pangalos, Foreign Under-Secretary Yiannos
Kranidiotis, Finance Under- Secretary Alexandros Baltas and other
officials.
[02] DRAFT BILL ON LABOR RELATIONS RELEASED TODAY
The Labor Ministry is to release today its draft bill on
revised industrial relations which does not include the clause on
increasing the daily working hours to nine or ten -at the
employer's will- during peak season.
According to the leader of the General Confederation of Greek
Laborers, this is a positive development.
Meanwhile, the political secretariat met yesterday and the
participants confirmed the government's will to press on with
reforms, albeit in a milder manner and with greater support from
the workers.
[03] STATE-WIDE EXAMS CONTINUE
High school graduates vying for a college seat were tested in
the courses of math, biology and history today.
Meanwhile, the so-far results of Monday's essay-writing
examination are not upbeat. The reviewers stated that many
students missed the point and drifted off the subject which was
the significance of humor in our lives. The topic reportedly
caught many students off guard.
[04] SOUTHERN ITALY: GREEK LANGUAGE DECLINING, BUT CULTURE IS
THRIVING
The use of the Greek language in southern Italy may be on its
decline, but the Greek culture and tradition is thriving in the
region, its presence most evident in songs.
This was the message conveyed by professor and writer Rocco
Aprile during his salute given last night at the performance of
the "Ghetonia" group's concert.
Ghetonia represented the cultural association of the city
Kalimera in southern Italy in an event held at the Municipality of
Kalamaria, organized jointly by the Lions Club of Thessaloniki and
the "Malliaris" Publishing House.
[05] GREEK TOURISM ORGANIZATION EMPLOYEES HOLD WORK STOPPAGES
Employees at the Greek Organization of Tourism (EOT) embarked
today on three-hour work stoppage, to be continued tomorrow, in
protest to the economic dead end faced by the sector.
Their unions state that the mismanagement of the sector's
administration has led EOT into financial havoc and that those in
leading positions have failed to utilize the state's tourism-
related property and render it competitive into the sector's
market.
Moreover, the strikers demand that back pay of seven months
be given to those employed by EOT offices abroad.
[06] SOCCER: ARIS TO BE SOLD TODAY, KONTOMINAS MOST LIKELY BUYER
Aris President Lakis Ioannides is to announce this evening
the name of the businessman who will "pick up the tab" for the
team, and the rumored name is the owner of the Interamerican
Insurance Group Dimitris Kontominas.
Meanwhile, after the transfers of Vakirtzis and Mantzios,
Aris is looking to snatch Cypriot player Kostas Malelos who played
for Panathinaikos for six months.
In Olympiakos, the Yugoslav player of Madrid's Atletico
Milinko Padic is one of the team's top choices. As for
Panathinaikos, hopes to get Davor Suker have evaporated, since the
Croat player's impressive performance at the World Cup games has
spiraled his cachet upwards, namely to 2.5 billion drachmas.
[07] SIMITIS: THE EFFORTS FOR STRUCTURAL CHANGES WILL CONTINUE
Prime minister Kostas Simitis issued an appeal to every
direction calling for the support of the governmental work that
will lead the country to development.
Mr. Simitis said that the efforts for structural changes will
continue with determination because it is for the benefit of the
Greek people.
On the issue of the 8hour working day, Mr. Simitis pointed
out that the government wants agreements to be reached between
employers and employees for the good of businesses, while
regarding the "Greek Petroleum" company, he underlined that there
is no issue of cutting down the number of job positions and
limiting investments.
[08] "PAPASTRATOS": THE INDUSTRY PLANT IN BUCHAREST WILL COST 1.2
BILLION DRACHMAS
The first international plant of the Greek tobacco industry
"Papastratos", that will be built in Bucharest and will be able to
produce 3 million cigarettes annually, will cost 1.2 billion
drachmas.
The largest tobacco industry in Greece and at the same time,
the biggest Greek exporter of consumer goods will make the
specific investment to overcome the obstacle of the high tariffs
imposed by the Romanian state to the imported tobacco products.
The new industry plant will be in operation by the end of
1998 and will cover the great demand of the Assos International
brand of cigarettes that has won a large part of the Romanian
market.
The new subsidiary company will be "Papastratos Romania"
while it should be noted, that the management of the Greek company
plans to open a second plant targeting most likely the Ukrainian
market.
[09] PRESIDENT STEPHANOPOULOS WILL BE IN CYPRUS TOMORROW
Greek president Kostis Stephanopoulos will be on a visit to
Cyprus starting tomorrow. The Cypriot authorities are preparing to
offer him a warm reception. He will have contacts with president
Glafkos Clerides and political party leaders, while he will also
visit the Cypriot Parliament.
It should be noted, that it is the first formal visit by a
Greek head of state to the island of Aphrodite. The details
concerning the reception of the Greek president and the schedule
of his visit were discussed in a meeting held in Nicosia today.
[10] THE UNIVERSITY ADMISSION EXAMS CONTINUE
The high-school graduates were tested in the course of
mathematics today and the topics were characterized as difficult,
while those tested in history were not satisfied because they had
to answer many questions.
No special problems were reported from those graduates who
were tested in the course of biology.
[11] INFLATION IN GREECE WILL BE AT 4.9% BY THE END OF 1998
The OECD speculates that inflation in Greece will be at 4.9%
by the end of 1998, while in 1999 it is estimated that it will
drop to 3.4%. It should be noted, that the goal set in Maastricht
is for inflation to drop to 2.5%.
Meanwhile, the general price index in the Athens Stock
Exchange showed a small rise at noon today.
[12] CHINESE BUSINESS DELEGATION IN THESSALONIKI
The first step for the development of business cooperation
between northern Greek and Chinese businesses from the Jiangtsu
province was made by the prefecture of Thessaloniki.
A 10member Chinese business delegation headed by the
commercial attache of the Chinese embassy in Athens arrived in
Thessaloniki today and will be hosted by the prefecture of
Thessaloniki until Sunday.
The Chinese businessmen will meet with local business
authorities and organizations responsible for the promotion of
technology, while they will also visit local business facilities.
[13] TOMARAS: THE UNITY OF SAE REMAINS UNSHAKABLE
The Council of Greeks Living in North and South America
president Christos Tomaras characterized as untrue the press
reports on the alleged withdrawal of organizations from the World
Council of Hellenes Abroad, SAE.
Mr. Tomaras stated that president of the Cretan Federation
Manolis Tsikoudakis assured him that the Cretans will not leave
SAE. Also, the New York based Greek-American newspaper "Proini"
writes today that AHEPA executive director Timothy Maniatis
categorically denied the information that AHEPA has already left
SAE.
[14] NICHOLAS BURNS IN THESSALONIKI
US ambassador in Athens Nicholas Burns visited the Museum of
the Macedonian Struggle in Thessaloniki, today.
After the end of his visit, mr Burns said that he was
informed about important people who sacrificed their lives and
that he saw important documents concerning the Greek diplomatic
history of 90 years ago, which are of great interest to him
because he intensively studies the history of Greece.
Responding to a question over the defeat of the US national
soccer team by Iran, mr Burns pointed out that the Iran's victory
was a fair one and reiterated the view stated by the US president
Bill Klinton that the time has come for the two countries to begin
a bilateral approach.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[15] HOLBROOKE ARRIVES IN KOSSOVO TODAY, TALKS WITH MILOSEVIC
UNPRODUCTIVE
Newly appointed U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Richard
Holbrooke is to arrive in Kossovo today for talks with Kossovar
Albanian leader, Ibrahim Rugova and his colleagues.
Ambassador Holbrooke met with Serb president Slobodan
Milosevic yesterday evening with whom he discussed ways to avert
the expansion of the conflict into the wider region.
After Prishtina, Mr. Holbrooke will return to Belgrade for a
final meeting with President Milosevic tomorrow morning.
He also met with the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, who was in
the region talking to officials as well.
State Department spokesperson James Rubin commented on Mr.
Holbrooke's visit to the Balkans and stated that the US are
cooperating closely with the Contact Group countries on the
diplomatic monitoring efforts.
"We'll get together and develop a diplomatic monitoring
mission so that experts can get access to the region, make
independent judgments as to what's going on there, and be in a
position to report to us what's going on there," Mr. Rubin said.
"The Contact Group has laid out a series of requirements for
a serious discussion," he said, adding that "Ambassador Holbrooke
is trying to advance that goal."
[16] TURKISH JETS VIOLATE CYPRUS'S AIR SPACE
A squadron of ten Turkish F-4 and F-16 fighter planes
violated Nicosia flight information region for three hours
yesterday.
The flights were part of the Turkish army's 'Sea Wolf'
military exercises being conducted in the occupied north and
scheduled to finish on June 26.
[17] SPANISH PLANE'S HIJACKER TALKED SUCCESSFULY INTO
SURRENDERING
Yesterday's hijacking of the Spanish airline IBERIA Boeing
747 passenger plane had a happy end. The four-hour ordeal for the
131 people on board the flight from Seville to Barcelona ended
when the hijacker was talked into giving up in Valencia.
Taking over the plane, the hijacker asked to be flown first
to Athens and then to Tel Aviv. Alerted, the Greek authorities
discreetly deployed police at Athens international airport to deal
with a possible hostage situation there.
Athens was in constant contact with the Spanish authorities,
and ready to cooperate fully with them if the need arose.
As it happened, the hijacker's psychiatrist persuaded his
patient to give up, and the incident ended in Spain with no
injuries.
Head of the Greek embassy press office Mr. Hatzilambis stated
that the mayor of Seville was among the plane's passengers.
[18] CYPRIOT FM: WE'D CANCEL S-300 IF TURKEY WITHDREW SOME
TROOPS
Cypriot Foreign Minister Yiannakis Kasoulides has stated that
Cyprus would cancel the purchase of the Russian-made S-300 anti-
aircraft missiles only if Turkey would be willing to withdraw part
of its troops from the island's occupied part.
In an interview with the Turkish daily "Milliyet", Mr.
Kasoulides also stated that
if Turkey reduces its occupation of the Turkish territory to 27%,
as opposed to the presently-occupied territory of 37%, that the
problem of the Greek-Cypriot refugees will be resolved to a large
degree.
In regards tot he missiles, Mr. Kasoulides said that he is
not aware of when they will be deployed at the island, but he did
stress that this will not take place before September.
The Cypriot FM reiterated that the purchase of the ground-to-
air missiles was made for defense purposes.
Referring to the issue of the island's bid for accession to
the European Union, Mr. Kasoulides stressed that if Turkey insists
on its negative stance towards the Cyprus issue, the island will
join the EU with the issue remaining unresolved.
"The EU does not link the matter of Cyprus's accession to
the resolution of the Cyprus issue," he stated, adding that "if,
however, the island's accession is obstructed in order to satisfy
Turkey, then Greece sill do everything within its power to
prevent the EU's expansion."
Lastly, Mr. Kasoulides stated that the best solution would be
a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation, while he added that the
proposal of Turkish-Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash to have a
rotating presidency is unacceptable since the Turkish-cyrpuot
populations is a mere 18%.
[19] BELARUS ACCUSES WEST OF DOUBLE STANDARDS IN DIPLOMATS RECALL
The Foreign Ministry of Belarus has issued an
announcement in which it states that the recall of the six western
countries' diplomats from the capital city of Minsk is an act of
"double standard" in regards to how the European Union views the
country.
Also, the government of Belarus, in, the same announcement,
accuses the western diplomats of having violated the Geneva
convention regarding bilateral diplomatic ties at an international
level.
The ambassadors of Greece, Britain, France, Germany, Italy,
Poland, Japan and the United States departed from Minsk, in
protest to the behavior of the local authorities who evicted the
diplomats from their residences in order to conduct restoration
and construction works. .
The government of Belarus wanted to temporarily relocate the
diplomats relocated from their suburban homes to another region in
order to conduct the projects.
[20] GREEK PRODUCTS TO BE SAMPLED IN FYROM
A line of Greek products are to be sampled in FYROM, in an
event organized by the Greek Organization for Exports Promotion,
which will also provide for business contacts in the sectors of
electrical materials, computers and services.
The sampling will be held between July 13-17, in cooperation
with the Greek Embassy's Office of Economic and Commercial
Affairs and the Economic Chamber of Skopje.
[21] ARMED CLASHES AT THE OUTSKIRTS OF PRISTINA
The armed clashes between ethnic Albanian gunmen and Serb
security forces have moved to the outskirts of the Kosovo capital
Pristina.
According to the Albanian side, armed clashes are taking
place at the village of Belatsev, 12 kilometers from Pristina,
while Kosovo's Liberation Army allegedly controls part of the city
and 20-25% of the Kosovo territory.
[22] GLIGOROV: "MY COUNTRY WILL NOT CHANGE ITS NAME"
FYROM president Kiro Gligorov was unequivocal concerning the
issue of changing its country's name stating that FYROM has no
intention of changing its name and stressed that the only reason
Skopje accepted the name "FYROM" was because it included the term
"Macedonia".
Mr Gligorov claimed that accepting the name "FYROM" was a
very difficult compromise for his state but a necessary one for
its UN membership. President Gligorov underlined that the
definition "Former Yugoslavia" would soon be excluded from the
name because-as he said-Skopje is not a former state and it does
not have any relations with Yugoslavia either.
Mr Gligorov, also, expressed his concern over the
persistence of the Greek government to use the name FYROM in all
international organizations in which it is a member.
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/
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