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Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 98-10-11Macedonian 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: 23:27 GMT+2SECTIONS
NEWS HEADLINES[A] GREECE[B] BALKANS[C] EUROPENEWS IN DETAIL[A] GREECE[01] ATHENS VOTES FOR INCUMBENT MAYOR AVRAMOPOULOS, SECOND ROUND IN THESSALONIKI, PIRAEUS WHERE MAIN OPPOSITION'S CANDIDATES HAVE THE LEADWeb Posted: 21:50 GMT+2Thessaloniki, 11/10/1998 (MPA) Local government elections- municipal and prefectural- were held throughout Greece today, with main opposition- backed candidates having the lead in the country's three largest municipalities.In Athens, incumbent mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos enjoyed a sweeping victory having earned, according to so far exit poll results, 55.3% of the votes, while in Thessaloniki, New Democracy backed candidate Vasilis Papageorgopoulos has so far amassed 40.8% of the votes, while the PASOK candidate Thrasyvoulos Lazarides, has gathered 31.6%. In Piraeus, the main opposition's candidate Agrapides is also ahead of PASOK's Fotiou. Both Thessaloniki and Piraeus are headed for a second round next Sunday as the winning ticket in these two cities failed to receive the absolute majority of votes. The winning ticket in the first round receives three- fifths of seats, the remainder being apportioned to the other tickets. If the winning ticket receives more than 60 per cent of votes, the number of seats allocated to it increases proportionately. Minister of Press and Media Dimitris Reppas stated that regardless of the final results, the government will press on with its task. These elections are the first to take place after the merging of a multitude of small communities into larger municipal units. The total number of registered voters is approximately 8.9 million, including 1,468 citizens of other European Union member-states living in Greece. Voting began at 7 a.m. and ended at 7 p.m. The electoral system is the same for both municipal and prefectural elections. Voting is theoretically compulsory, backed by criminal sanctions (such as fines, imprisonment of up to one year and deprivation of the right to run for public office), which however, remain in abeyance. Administrative sanctions, such as refusal of applications for passports and driving licenses, have been abolished. [02] PREMIER TO LAUNCH INT/L BUSINESS CONFERENCE IN NORTHERN GREECEWeb Posted: 21:42 GMT+2Thessaloniki, 11/10/1998 (MPA) Prime Minister Kostas Simitis will inaugurate an international business conference to be held in the northern Greek city of Alexandroupolis on October 22-25.Expected to attend the conference are officials from seventy six countries including ministers, ambassadors, trade attaches and bank governors. Among items on the agenda are energy networks, transport, telecommunications, small and medium-sized enterprises, and peace and security in the region. Moreover, the event will review the prospects for a new economic area after 2000 spanning the Mediterranean, Balkans and Black Sea. Greece's Alternate Foreign Minister George Papandreou, who is also the head of the conference's organizing committee, has personally called on the delegates to forge contacts in order to help expand cooperation in the region. Organizing the event is the Foundation for Mediterranean Cooperation, backed by the European Parliament, the European Investment Bank, the Foundation for Mediterranean Studies and local authorities in the north. [03] US EMBASSY AND CONSULATES CLOSED TOMORROW FOR COLUMBUS DAYWeb Posted: 21:42 GMT+2Thessaloniki, 11/10/1998 (MPA) The United States embassy in Athens and its general consulates in both the capital and Thessaloniki, along with all US federal government agency offices in Greece , will be closed tomorrow in honor of Columbus Day, a national holiday.[04] ATHENS-HELD CONFERENCE TO ADDRESS COMPUTER MILLENNIUM BUGWeb Posted: 21:42 GMT+2Athens, 11/10/1998 (MPA) The Greek Management Association, in cooperation with the European Council of Management, is to host a conference concerning the various ways to address the computer millennium bug in the year 2000.Minster of the Interior Alekos Papadopoulos and the managing director of Commercial Bank of Greece, George Michelis are to address the event, which will be held on October 15-16 and which will be inaugurated by the British Ambassador to Athens Sir Michael Llewellyn-Smith. The conference will present solutions to the millennium bug applied by international corporations in sectors including industry and services. The bug will cause many computers to fail by reading the date 2000 as 1900 because computer software programmers have abbreviated each year to the two final digits in order to save computer memory. The conference is being held under the aegis of the British Embassy in Athens. [05] PAPARIGA: THE PEOPLE WILL CONDEMN THE GOVERNMENT POLICYWeb Posted: 16:27 GMT+2Athens , 11/10/1998 (MPA) The belief that the people will condemn the government policy was expressed by Greek Communist Party general secretary Aleka Papariga in statements she made after exercising her right to vote in the district of Gizi in Athens.Ms. Papariga expressed the belief that the people will elect to the posts of mayor and prefect candidates with a fighting spirit. [06] TSOVOLAS: THE ELECTIONS WILL SEND OUT IMPORTANT POLITICAL MESSAGESWeb Posted: 16:27 GMT+2Arta, 11/10/1998 (MPA) The citizens will vote for the progressive candidates in a calm and determined way for the promotion of the regional development and decentralization, stated opposition Democratic Social Movement leader Dimitris Tsovolas after voting in the city of Arta in north- western Greece.Mr. Tsovolas added that the political messages that will be out with the election results will be very significant and expressed the hope that the government with its policy will respond to all the messages that will be sent out by the Greek people. [07] KARAMANLIS: EVERYTHING WILL GO WELLWeb Posted: 16:27 GMT+2Thessaloniki, 11/10/1998 (MPA) The certainty that everything will go well for the candidates of the main opposition party of New Democracy was expressed by party leader Kostas Karamanlis in statements he made after he exercised his right to vote in Thessaloniki.The New Democracy leader did not make other statements to reporters. Yesterday, when he visited the main campaign offices of the ND backed candidates for the post of Thessaloniki's mayor Vasilis Papageorgopoulos and for the post of Thessaloniki's prefect Christos Koskinas, he made no statements to reporters as well. [08] THE PRIME MINISTER WISHED GOOD LACK TO ALL THE CANDIDATES BACKING REFORMWeb Posted: 16:27 GMT+2Athens, 11/10/1998 (MPA) Prime minister Kostas Simitis wished good lack to all the candidates for the posts of mayor and prefect who are backing reform, in statements he made after voting at the 279th polling station in Athens.Mr. Simitis stated that strong municipalities and autonomous prefectures are needed because the prefects and mayors should be responsible, able and effective in order to have a modern state. [09] STEPHANOPOULOS: TODAY IS THE DAY OF DEMOCRACYWeb Posted: 16:27 GMT+2Patras, 11/10/1998 (MPA) Greek president Kostis Stephanopoulos said that today is the Sunday of democracy, in a statement he made after exercising his right to vote in the city of Patras in the Pelopponese, southern Greece.Election day either it is a parliamentary election or a local administration election, is a very important day and everyone should exercise their right to vote, said the president and wished good lack to everyone. [10] THE SUMMIT MEETING IN ANTALYA WILL TAKE PLACE TOMORROWWeb Posted: 16:27 GMT+2Athens , 11/10/1998 (MPA) The second Summit meeting of the Balkan leaders opens in Antalya, Turkey tomorrow. The meeting which in a way constitutes a follow up of the Crete Summit that was held last November, is overshadowed by the likelihood of a NATO military intervention in Kosovo.According to information, a meeting of the prime ministers of Greece Kostas Simitis and Turkey Mesut Yilmaz and the foreign ministers of the two countries is possible to be held on the sidelines of the summit. [11] THE LOCAL ELECTIONS ARE BEING HELD WITHOUT PROBLEMSWeb Posted: 16:27 GMT+2Thessaloniki, 11/10/1998 (MPA) The local administration elections that started at 7am and will end at 7pm are being held without problems. Over 8.000.000 voters will exercise their right in 22.000 polling stations.In Thessaloniki there are about 1.000 polling stations and according to the central returning board, no problems have been reported until now. The returning officers, appointed to oversee the procedure in the polling stations, are in their posts and only certain members of the returning boards did not appear but their absence did not cause any problems to the procedure. [B] BALKANS[12] MOUNTING PRESSURE ON MILOSEVIC AS NATO AWAITS «ACTIVATION ORDER»Web Posted: 21:52 GMT+2Belgrade, 11/10/1998 (MPA) International pressure is mounting on Serb President Slobodan Milosevic as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is literary on the brink of a military intervention.Albania announced yesterday that it will provide aid to the alliance, while Greek Prime Minister Kostas Simitis stated that no violence should be exerted in Kosovo. [13] ANTALYA SUMMIT BEGINS TOMORROWWeb Posted: 21:42 GMT+2Antalya, 11/10/1998 (MPA) The second summit meeting of heads of states and governments from south-eastern Europe is to be held tomorrow and Tuesday in Antalya, Turkey.Prime minister Kostas Simitis is expected to meet with his Turkish counterpart Mesut Yilmaz on the sidelines of the conference, while the foreign ministers of both Greece and Turkey, Theodoros Pangalos and Ismael Cem respectively, are also expected to hold talks. According to reports, Mr. Simitis will stress that Greece is in favor of confidence-building-measures in the Aegean, as proposed by NATO secretary- general Javier Solana, and will reiterate his support for the "wisemen" committee formed by Greece and Turkey. [14] PRESSURE MOUNTS ON MILOSEVICWeb Posted: 16:27 GMT+2Belgrade, 11/10/1998 (MPA) The pressure on Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic mounts as NATO completes the procedures for a military intervention.Albania announced yesterday that it will accommodate the forces of the alliance, while in Athens prime minister Kostas Simitis stated that no force should be used in Kosovo. Meanwhile, yesterday many Greek students studying in Yugoslav universities returned to Greece and they testified on the hard times the Serb people are going through. [C] EUROPE[15] MOSCOW RECALLS ITS NATO AMBASSADORWeb Posted: 21:42 GMT+2Brussels, 11/10/1998 (MPA) Moscow has recalled its NATO Ambassador Sergei Kisliak, according to diplomatic sources in Brussels.According to the reports, the recall was ordered for talks regarding Kossovo. The Ambassador was also accompanied by the Russian military attache to the Alliance. [16] AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR TO ARRIVE IN ATHENS NEXT THURSDAYWeb Posted: 21:42 GMT+2Vienna, 11/10/1998 (MPA) Austrian Chancellor Viktor Klima is expected to arrive on an official visit to Athens next Thursday, as part of a tour of all European Union capitals.Mr. Klima, who will be received by Greek Premier Kostas Simitis, currently holds the EU's rotating presidency. 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 |
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