Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 98-10-30
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, October 30, 1998
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] NEW CABINET COMPLETES FIRST MEETING
[02] GREECE TO SEEK LEGAL RECOURSE OVER ARCHIMEDES PALIMPSEST
[03] GREEK CUSTOMS TRAIN FYROM, UKRAINE COLLEAGUES
[04] GREEK POLICEMAN FINDS AND TURNS IN 30,000 DOLLARS
[05] THE NEW GOVERNMENT WAS SWORN-IN TODAY
[06] THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE INTERVENED IN THE CASE OF THE NEO-
NAZI GATHERING
[07] THE GREEK GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN COMMENTED ON KOSOVO
[08] REPPAS: TURKEY'S STANCE IS HYPOCRITICAL
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[09] US ENVOY HOLBROOKE TO VISIT CYPRUS, GREECE AND TURKEY
[10] INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN ALBANIA
[11] HALBROOKE: GREECE HELPED IN REACHING A PEACEFUL SOLUTION IN
KOSOVO
[12] GREECE LOST THE ARCHIMEDES PALIMPSEST
[13] ARCHBISHOP SPYRIDON OF AMERICA WILL VISIT GREECE AT THE END
OF DECEMBER
[14] INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ALBANIA OPENS IN TIRANA TODAY
[15] THE VISIT OF THE GREEK PARLIAMENT DELEGATION TO SOFIA ENDS
TODAY
[16] THE ALBANIAN PRIME MINISTER WILL VISIT GREECE ON NOVEMBER 12
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] NEW CABINET COMPLETES FIRST MEETING
The new ministerial cabinet completed its first session
today, headed by Prime Minster Kostas Simitis who underlined the
government's basic directions.
Earlier today, the new ministers and undersecretaries were
sworn-in before the President of the Hellenic Republic Kostis
Stephanopoulos and the Premier, following last night's reshuffle.
Kostas Geitonas, who held the post of Health Minister, was
appointed State Minister since there is no position as Minister to
the Premier.
[02] GREECE TO SEEK LEGAL RECOURSE OVER ARCHIMEDES PALIMPSEST
Greece will seek legal recourse in order to acquire the
Archimedes palimpsest which was auctioned off by Christie's in New
York last night at $2.2 million.
Greece's Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos stated that the
Greek state could have bid for the palimpsest if its price had not
surpass the two-million-dollar mark. He added that the
Patriarchate of Jerusalem has strong evidence of having rightful
property of the manuscript.
The 12th century AD palimpsest contains what is thought to be
the only copy of a letter sent by ancient Greek mathematician and
physicist Archimedes to astronomer Eratosthenes.
[03] GREEK CUSTOMS TRAIN FYROM, UKRAINE COLLEAGUES
The Greek Customs Authority will hold a week of training next
week for 20 employees of the Customs Authority of FYROM and five
employees from the Ukraine Authority.
The seminars are being held in cooperation with the national
economy ministry and in the framework of training extended to
Black Sea and Balkan countries hoping to best combat the illegal
movement of goods between Greece and other countries.
[04] GREEK POLICEMAN FINDS AND TURNS IN 30,000 DOLLARS
In the midst of a growing furor over recent disclosures of
police corruption, a 38-year-old law enforcement officer found a
travel bag containing 30,000 US dollars at Athens' international
airport and turned it in, refusing the legal finders' fee.
An airport spokesman said officer Konstantinos Yienerakis
cautiously removed the bag and took it to a remote area, fearing
it might be a bomb, and opened it to find that it was full of
packets of dollars.
Mr. Yienerakis immediately turned the satchel over to the
airport police authorities. A short while later, an employee of a
shipping company showed up in search of the bag, saying he had
withdrawn the money from the bank branch at the airport but had
lost the bag full of money.
[05] THE NEW GOVERNMENT WAS SWORN-IN TODAY
The new government was sworn-in at 11am today before
president Kostis Stephanopoulos and an hour later the newly formed
cabinet was scheduled to hold its first meeting.
The discussion in parliament on prime minister Kostas
Simitis' request for a vote of confidence will start on Sunday
afternoon and will be completed on Tuesday at midnight. The
government reshuffle brought a change of leadership in the
ministries of public order, Macedonia-Thrace, agriculture and
health. Also, changes were made in the undersecretaries of
interior, transport, agriculture and labor. Strong criticism was
made by all the parties of the opposition on the government
reshuffle.
Philippos Petsalnikos, who until now was Minister of
Macedonia-Thrace takes over the ministry of public order replacing
Giorgos Romeos and the place of Mr. Petsalnikos, as minister of
Macedonia-Thrace, is taken over by PASOK deputy Giannis Magriotis.
Stephanos Tzoumakas was removed from the ministry of
agriculture and is replaced by Giorgos Anomeritis. Kostas Gitonas
is removed from the ministry of health and takes over the post of
minister to the prime minister's office responsible for government-
parliament relations and his place as minister of health is taken
over by Lambros Papadimas.
[06] THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE INTERVENED IN THE CASE OF THE NEO-
NAZI GATHERING
A preliminary investigation to determine the reasons of the
neo-nazi meeting in Thessaloniki, what they discussed and if a
violation of the system of government was committed was announced
by the prosecutor's office in Thessaloniki.
The case of the secret meeting of the neo-nazis that was held
on the outskirts of Thessaloniki in the region of Filiro on
October 24 has upset the public opinion.
It should be noted that police authorities were aware of the
meeting and they had briefed the ministry of public order
immediately. The orders they received were to watch the meeting
discreetly and intervene only in the case of an offense.
[07] THE GREEK GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN COMMENTED ON KOSOVO
Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas stated yesterday
that Greece backs the agreement for the monitoring of Kosovo by
NATO, responding to the question if Greek fighter jets will
participate in the air patrol operations.
Mr. Reppas added that Greece participates in the
consultations for peace in Kosovo and is a member of NATO and
since the first moment was in favor of a peaceful solution.
[08] REPPAS: TURKEY'S STANCE IS HYPOCRITICAL
Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas characterized
Turkey's reaction to the Greek memorandum on the Greek-Turkish
relations delivered by Greek foreign minister Theodoros Pangalos
to the EU partners as hypocritical, misleading and expected.
Mr. Reppas said that Turkey is among those countries that do
not recognize the authority of the International Court of Justice
in The Hague and is not willing to comply with what is given in
the European Union adding that this stance hurts Ankara itself.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[09] US ENVOY HOLBROOKE TO VISIT CYPRUS, GREECE AND TURKEY
United States special envoy Richard Holbrooke is to travel to
Cyprus, Greece and Turkey during the first week of December,
according to the US Ambassador to Athens Nicholas Burns.
Mr. Burns, who is currently in Washington, stated that
although neither Greece nor Turkey want armed conflict, the
simulated airborne fights are extremely dangerous.
[10] INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN ALBANIA
Deputy foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou is in Tirana today
to represent Greece in the international conference that is being
held in Albania. In the conference will be discussed Albania's
democratization course and its economic backing.
The weaknesses in the country's way of government as they
were described by foreign minister Paskal Milo are the failure to
appoint professionals to public administration posts, the battle
against illegal trade, the restoration of order and the reform in
the justice system.
[11] HALBROOKE: GREECE HELPED IN REACHING A PEACEFUL SOLUTION IN
KOSOVO
The United States are grateful for the stance of the Greek
government regarding Kosovo, stated US mediator Richard Halbrooke
in a briefing he made in the US State Department on Wednesday.
Mr. Halbrooke, responding to a question by a Greek
correspondent on the role of Greece in reaching an agreement with
Yugoslav president Milosevic, stated that during the crisis
foreign minister Theodoros Pangalos telephoned to Belgrade and
made it absolutely clear to the Yugoslav authorities that Greece
is a member of NATO and fully backs NATO's authority regardless of
the reservations he had.
Mr. Halbrooke stressed that due to the special relations
between Greece and Serbia it is greatly appreciated the fact that
the Greeks supported the US and for this reason US ambassador to
FYROM Christopher Hill visited Athens.
Meanwhile, US State Department spokesman James Rubin also
referred to the improvement of the Greek-US relations on
Wednesday.
Mr. Rubin clarified that the reason of US ambassador Nicholas
Burns' visit to Washington was the speech he was scheduled to
deliver to the US State Department Overseas Security Advisory
Council, as well as his appearances to universities and Greek-
American organizations on the improved Greek-US relations and also
his meetings with US officials.
Responding to the question if the United States will help
Cyprus to build a naval base for its defense, Mr. Rubin stated
that he does not have other information besides Cypriot president
Clerides' announcement that a naval base will be built.
[12] GREECE LOST THE ARCHIMEDES PALIMPSEST
Greece "lost" the valuable manuscript of Archimedes, known as
Archimedes' palimpsest, which now belongs to a US collector who
bought it yesterday for 2 million US dollars in an auction by
Christie's auction house held in Manhattan, New York. The bid
started at 480.000 US dollars and soon reached the sum of 2
million.
Yesterday's auction followed after a court battle that was
lost by the Patriarchate of Jerusalem which maintained that the
manuscript had been stolen. New York's Federal Court ruled that
the French owner of the manuscript had the authentic ownership
title-deeds and ruled against the Patriarchate's request to
postpone its sale.
[13] ARCHBISHOP SPYRIDON OF AMERICA WILL VISIT GREECE AT THE END
OF DECEMBER
Archbishop Spyridon of America met yesterday with US
ambassador to Athens Nicholas Burns who is on a visit to the
United States in order to back the Simitis government efforts to
attract new investments. In the meeting was discussed the whole
spectrum of the Greek-US relations, the Greek-Turkish disputes,
the Cyprus problem and the problems faced by the Ecumenical
Patriarchate in Turkey.
According to the Greek-American newspaper "Proini", the US
diplomat showed a great interest in the formal visit of the
Archbishop to Athens scheduled to take place at the end of
December and as he announced he will give a formal reception in
his honor. According to the same information, the Archbishop will
be accompanied in his visit to Athens by distinguished members of
the Greek-American community.
Mr. Burns appeared pessimistic on the Cyprus problem and
according to information, he stated that a dangerous stagnation is
being observed, while he did not have anything optimistic to say
about the Greek-Turkish relations which are also stagnant.
[14] INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ALBANIA OPENS IN TIRANA TODAY
The two-day international conference on Albania opens in
Tirana today as a follow-up of the conferences in Rome and
Brussels with the participation of 36 countries which have
displayed willingness to help the poorest country of Europe as
well as, representatives of European and international credit
organizations. Greece is represented by deputy foreign minister
Giorgos Papandreou.
The conference participants are expected to call on the
Albanian government to speed-up the reform procedures and the
Albanian leadership characterizes the conference as the most
important historical event for the Albanian diplomacy since World
War II, while the opposition calls it a "routine conference".
In statements to MPA, the vice-president of the opposition
Democratic Party Mr. Gentz Pollo speculated that the conference
will set conditions for the Albanian government. Albanian foreign
minister Paskal Milo commenting on Mr. Pollo's statement told MPA
that ways will be suggested through which the international
community will send its assistance to Albania.
Strong security measures are in effect by the Albanian police
and according to reliable sources from the ministry of public
order, about 5.000 police officers will be responsible for the
protection of the foreign officials participating in the
conference.
[15] THE VISIT OF THE GREEK PARLIAMENT DELEGATION TO SOFIA ENDS
TODAY
The visit of the Greek parliament delegation to Sofia, headed
by vice-president of the Greek parliament Loukas Apostolidis, ends
today. During the visit the members of the delegation met with
Bulgarian parliament vice-president Mr. Kurtev, undersecretary of
foreign affairs Ms. Pramatarova and president of the Bulgarian
parliament committee on foreign policy and European incorporation
Mr. Asen Agov.
In statements he made to MPA, Mr. Apostolidis stressed that
there was an exchange of views on bilateral issues and an
agreement was reached for consultations that will be held at least
twice a year between Bulgarian parliament foreign policy and
European incorporation committee and Greek parliament European
affairs committee for the two sides to exchange views and
experience in order for Greece to assist Bulgaria in its effort to
become a member of the European family of states.
During the visit of the Greek delegation were also examined
issues concerning double taxation and ways to be avoided as well
as pending issues concerning bilateral relations and agreements
that are still in progress. It should be reminded that a
memorandum aimed at avoiding double taxation has already been
signed by the Bulgarian and Greek finance ministries. Mr.
Apostolidis stated that a bilateral meeting will be held in the
northern Greek city of Serres next month for the further
discussion of the issue.
[16] THE ALBANIAN PRIME MINISTER WILL VISIT GREECE ON NOVEMBER 12
Albanian prime minister Pandeli Majko will be on a formal
visit to Greece on November 12 for talks with the Greek
government.
In statements he made, the Albanian prime minister underlined
the excellent level of the Greek-Albanian relations and stressed
that there are no issues that should be reconsidered with the
Greek government, while he clarified that there are certain issues
that need to be made more specific and that a practical approach
should be adopted.
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