Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 98-06-25
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, June 25, 1998
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] PRESIDENT OF GREECE EMBARKS ON OFFICIAL VISIT TO CYPRUS
[02] US AMBASSADOR TO ATHENS: GREECE PLAYS LEADING ROLE IN BALKANS
[03] TOURIST ARRIVALS SEEN RISING BY 12 PER CENT
[04] THE ABOLITION OF THE WAITING-LIST FOR THE EMPLOYMENT OF
TEACHERS HAS THE SUPPORT OF THE GREEK PEOPLE
[05] THE ARCHBISHOP OF ATHENS IS IN VERIA
[06] THE LIST WITH THE NAMES OF JEWS WITH SWISS BANK ACCOUNTS IS
INCOMPLETE
[07] STEPHANOPOULOS: CYPRUS IS A CATALYST IN GREEK-TURKISH
RELATIONS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[08] PRESIDENT STEPHANOPOULOS ARRIVES IN CYPRUS, WARMLY SALUTED
[09] HOLBROOKE TO HOLD TALKS WITH MILOSEVIC AGAIN TODAY
[10] BSEC PARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE IN BUCHAREST
[11] GREECE WILL NEVER FORGET CYPRUS
[12] HOLBROOKE-MILOSEVIC MEETING
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] PRESIDENT OF GREECE EMBARKS ON OFFICIAL VISIT TO CYPRUS
The President of the Hellenic Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos
is embarking on an unprecedented visit to Cyprus today, and the
island's authorities are preparing a magnificent welcome reception
for the Greek head of state.
President Stephanopoulos is scheduled to arrive at 11 am,
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.
The Greek President is escorted by Greek Foreign Minister
Theodoros Pangalos, Foreign Under-Secretary Yiannos Kranidiotis,
Finance Under- Secretary Alexandros Baltas and other officials.
[02] US AMBASSADOR TO ATHENS: GREECE PLAYS LEADING ROLE IN BALKANS
United States Ambassador to Athens Nicholas Burns stated that
Greece holds a leading part in the Balkan region.
During the commencement ceremony address he delivered before
the graduates of the city's Greek-American four-year college
"Anatolia", Ambassador Burns stressed that Greece is the only
country in the region that is both a member of the European Union
and NATO, a country which features stability, a developed
democracy and a free economy.
The American diplomat also called on the Greek and Turkish
governments to be careful so that the next generations will not
continue to suffer by the same fate.
[03] TOURIST ARRIVALS SEEN RISING BY 12 PER CENT
The outlook for Greek tourism in 1998 is optimistic,
according to the Institute of Tourism Studies and Forecasts
(ITEP) and the Association
of Tourism Studies and Forecasts (SETE).
During a news conference held by the ITEP to promote the
release of the fifth volume of "Greek Economy and Tourism",
officials said they were expecting tourist arrivals to rise by at
least 12 percent compared to last year.
ITEP said it based the forecast on factors including the
devaluation of the drachma last March, favorable economic
conditions in the US and Europe, and a shift from other
Mediterranean destinations to Greece.
[04] THE ABOLITION OF THE WAITING-LIST FOR THE EMPLOYMENT OF
TEACHERS HAS THE SUPPORT OF THE GREEK PEOPLE
Prime minister Kostas Simitis stated in Parliament that the
abolition of the waiting-list for the permanent employment of
teachers has the overall approval of the Greek people.
The education reform does not end but it begins with the
measures taken, stated Mr. Simitis and added that the goal of the
government is to form a new training culture for teachers. The
prime minister referred to the new role of educators which is not
simply to transfer knowledge but to help the students form the
ability to acquire and use knowledge.
[05] THE ARCHBISHOP OF ATHENS IS IN VERIA
Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All of Greece is on a
visit to Veria where he will formally open the international
conference on "Apostle Paul and Greece".
A holy liturgy was held in the church of St. Antonios after
the arrival of the head of the Greek Church who was welcomed by
Metropolite Panteleimon of Veria, Naousa and Kambania.
[06] THE LIST WITH THE NAMES OF JEWS WITH SWISS BANK ACCOUNTS IS
INCOMPLETE
The list with the names of the 17.000 Jews, who were lost in
the Holocaust and had their bank accounts seized by the Swiss
banks since World War II, is incomplete.
The statement was made to MPA in an exclusive interview by
Ms. Hadassa Ben-Itto, Israeli Supreme Court judge and arbitrator
of the Zurich-based Claims Resolution Tribunal which examines the
files of the bank accounts of Jews, who were the victims of the
Nazis.
Several thousands of Jews filed applications claiming the
bank accounts of the Holocaust victims that were seized by Swiss
banks, after the publication of the list with the names of 17.000
Jews by the Swiss Bank Association last October.
The Tribunal that is made up of a judge and 15 arbitrators
was formed at the end of 1997 to examine the files of the
Holocaust victims' bank accounts in Swiss banks as the Swiss
courts have no jurisdiction over the case. The 15 arbitrators come
from different countries and among them are judges, financial
advisers and Law professors The first 5 arbitrators were
appointed at the end of 1997 by the Board of Directors of a
special fund based in the United States and the other 10 last
April. Already, they have started examining the files prepared by
the Swiss Legal Aid Agency.
Ms. Ben-Itto reminded that until recently the Swiss banks,
following the confidentiality principle, did not give information
on bank accounts that remained inactive since 1945 unless the
depositors had died and their heirs were able to bring adequate
proof. In the case of the Jews, who were Holocaust victims the
proof of death through a death certificate was impossible because
almost all of them died in Nazi concentration camps and in gas
chambers and their deaths were not reported. In 1997, Switzerland
decided to lift the confidentiality principle concerning those
accounts and the Swiss Bank Association published a list with the
names of 17.000 Jews with Swiss bank accounts.
Ms. Ben-Itto stressed that this is just one list of names in
which there is no mention of the banks in which the accounts were
deposited neither the account numbers and the sums of money
deposited. The lawful beneficiaries of the bank accounts got a 6-
month deadline to file an application claiming the accounts, which
was extended for another 6 months and it is possible to be
extended again.
The arbitrators have a difficult task as they are called to
examine if the beneficiaries are lawful, decide if there are many
heirs claiming an account, if the beneficiaries are close or
distant relatives of the depositor, while they will also have to
decide on the amount of money each beneficiary will receive.
[07] STEPHANOPOULOS: CYPRUS IS A CATALYST IN GREEK-TURKISH
RELATIONS
The President of the Hellenic Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos
was received with great honours today in Cyprus where he was
offered the highest prestigious distinction of the Cypriot
Republic, the "Great Necklace" of the battalion of Makarios III by
the Cypriot president Glafkos Clerides.
Mr Stephanopoulos stressed that Greece supports Cyprus'
struggle and expressed the hope for a fair, functional and viable
settlement of the Cyprus problem.
Mr Stephanopoulos described Turkey's attitude as inadmissible
and added that Cyprus could be a catalyst in Greek-Turkish and EU-
Turkish relations. The president of the Hellenic Republic, also,
visited the Archdiocese of Cyprus.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[08] PRESIDENT STEPHANOPOULOS ARRIVES IN CYPRUS, WARMLY SALUTED
The arrival of the President of the Hellenic Republic Kostis
Stephanopoulos to the island of Cyprus, the first official visit
conducted by a Greek president since the founding of the republic
of Cyprus in 1960, has been characterized by the locals as a
"historic, rare, magnificent and singular event".
President Stephanopoulos arrived at the airport of Larnaca
this morning at 11 and received a jubilant and warm welcome by
church, government and state officials as well as simple folk.
One hour later, Mr./ Stephanopoulos was bestowed with the
golden key of the capital city, Nicosia by its mayor Lelos
Demitriades.
The Cypriot government spokesperson characterized the visit as an
"exceptional event" and stressed that it contains multiple
symbolisms."
At President Stephanopoulos welcoming ceremony held at the
airport, the president of the Republic of Cyprus Glafkos Clerides
stated in his address:
"Your presence in Cyprus, our friend, Mr. President, I
believe forwards a very significant message to various directions.
The message is that Greece, a guarantor power of the Republic of
Cyprus, is here, with us in the same entrenchment. This is the
first time the Cypriot Hellenism has the honor to welcome Greece's
head of state. And your visit is taking place during the most
critical, perhaps, period for the Cyprus issue, after the Turkish
invasion."
In his reply address, the President of the Hellenic Republic
stated:
"Cyprus is for Greece a matter of foremost significance,
Greece identifies with Cyprus in its effort to support the Cypriot
people's struggle for the restoration of freedom, for the
attainment of independence and the national integrity of the
Cypriot Republic.
"All of the country's political forces, the Greek people
throughout, have the unisom, the unshakable, the unyielding
fervency to support this struggle. I am not a messenger of
aggressive or hostile messages. I shall leave this task to others,
who, devoid of support from international law, who by continuously
violating the lawful world order from 1974 to date, want to mask
these shortcomings of theirs by expressing, at every opportunity,
by expressing this kind of threats, this kind of slogans.
"I've come here as a messenger of peaceful, friendly
sentiments of cooperation and brotherhood. Cyprus must become a
place of prosperity for all, Greek-Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots,
and this can be achieved in one way only: When the decisions and
resolutions of the United Nations Security Council are accepted.
When lawfulness operates again in Cyprus When a unified state
will be able to exist, a bi-communal, bi-zonal federated state,
which will accede - and this is completely certain- the European
Union."
[09] HOLBROOKE TO HOLD TALKS WITH MILOSEVIC AGAIN TODAY
Newly appointed U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Richard
Holbrooke is to arrive in Belgrade today for talks with Serb
president Slobodan Milosevic.
During his visit to Prihstina yesterday, where he met with
the leader of the ethnic Albanians Ibrahim Rugova, Mr. Holbrooke
also met with two members of the Kossovo Liberation Army.
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."
[10] BSEC PARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE IN BUCHAREST
A Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) pact parliamentary
representatives' two-day conference began yesterday in Bucharest
with the signing of a common declaration, including an account of
BSEC's accomplishments over the last five years.
The three-member Greek delegation, comprising PASOK
parliamentarians Maria Arseni and Apostolos Foteiades, as well as
main opposition party deputy Athanasios Nakos, stressed that the
main target of the BSEC parliamentary assembly is to expand and
further the cooperation among the member-countries.
Ms. Arseni told the Macedonian Press Agency that Greece
submitted a number of modifications regarding the combat of cross-
border crimes, arms and drugs smuggling, and illegal immigrants
traffic and exploitation. These amendments were widely accepted by
the BSEC members.
BSEC members include Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria,
Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey and the Ukraine.
[11] GREECE WILL NEVER FORGET CYPRUS
The wall of Nicosia is a shame not only for those who have
built it but for those who tolerate it as well, stressed Greek
president Kostis Stephanopoulos in his speech responding to the
welcome speech delivered by the mayor of Nicosia in a formal
ceremony in Cyprus. He underlined that the wall does not only
divide Cyprus but separates Turkey from Europe and that Europe
will stop at this wall if the other side does not change its
attitude and practice.
Upon his arrival at the airport of Larnaka, Mr.
Stephanopoulos stated that Greece does not forget Cyprus and it
will be on its side to defend legality.
Cypriot president Glafkos Clerides pointed out that the visit
of Mr. Stephanopoulos is a message to every direction that Greece
and Cyprus fight on the same side for a fair and peaceful solution
to the Cyprus problem.
[12] HOLBROOKE-MILOSEVIC MEETING
Newly appointed US ambassador to the United Nations Richard
Holbrooke held a meeting, in Belgrade, today, with the Yugoslav
president Slobodan Milosevic.
Mr Holbrooke underlined the resemblance between the Kosovo
situation and the "wild West" and the situation in Bosnia during
the war and stressed that Kosovo is a part of Yugoslavia.
Referring to the meeting he had yesterday with
representatives of the "Kosovo Liberation Army", he pointed out
that it was accidental and it lasted 30 minutes noting that the
meeting did not have a dialogue character as mr Holbrooke just
heard their comments over the developments in Kosovo
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