|
|
|
Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 98-11-05
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, November 5, 1998
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] CHEAPER CARS AS OF NOVEMBER, IN AN EFFORT TO CURB INFLATION
[02] PASOK POLITICAL SECRETARIAT AND EXECUTIVE BUREAU CONVENE
TODAY
[03] POST OFFICE WORKERS ON STRIKE TODAY
[04] PHILOXENIA '98 STARTS TODAY, S.E. EUROPE'S BIGGEST TOURISM
FAIR
[05] SWEDISH FOREIGN AID MINISTER TO VISIT GREECE THIS MONTH
[06] DEPUTY FM ON NEW EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
[07] TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS ARE THE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH FOR GREECE'S
YOUTH
[08] PANGALOS: THE ELECTION PROCEDURE IN THE EXECUTIVE BUREAU OF
PASOK SHOULD CHANGE
[09] AMBASSADOR BURNS MADE POSITIVE COMMENTS ON GREECE
[10] THE EMPLOYMENT OF PENSIONERS WILL BE LIMITED
[11] 109 PARLIAMENT DEPUTIES INVITE OCALAN TO GREECE
[12] REPPAS COMMENTED ON THE EU-TURKEY RAPPROCHEMENT
[13] FYROM GAVE A MISLEADING PICTURE OF THE MEETING ARCHBISHOP
CHRISTODOULOS HAD WITH SCHISMATIC PRIESTS
[14] THE US AMBASSADOR WILL INAUGURATE AN EXHIBITION OF GREEK AND
US ARTISTS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[15] NEW PLAN PROMOTED FOR KOSOVO
[16] A GREEK AMONG IN/AL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL'S NINE ELECTED JUDGES
[17] C OF E APPEALS FOR WIDE PARTICIPATION IN ALBANIA'S
CONSTITUTION REFERENDUM
[18] A GREEK JUDGE WAS APPOINTED TO THE INTERNATIONAL COURT FOR
RWANDA
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] CHEAPER CARS AS OF NOVEMBER, IN AN EFFORT TO CURB INFLATION
In an effort to curb inflation, the government is
accelerating its plan to reduce indirect taxes, starting with
automobiles and electricity, according to the Minister of National
Economy Yiannos Papantoniou.
According to reports, the lower car prices will be effective
as soon as November, while lower electricity prices will be
enforced as of January 1, 1999. According to car importers, the
reduction could mean GRD 250,000 less for an automobile of 1400
horsepower. According to the Laborers' Federation, the average
consumer will pay approximately GRD2,000 less a month. Moreover,
Mr. Papantoniou stressed that no new taxes will be imposed during
1999.
[02] PASOK POLITICAL SECRETARIAT AND EXECUTIVE BUREAU CONVENE
TODAY
Prime Minister Kostas Simitis is to chair the meetings of the
ruling PASOK party's Political Secretariat, to be held this
afternoon, and its Executive Bureau this evening.
The participants will discuss the upcoming Central Committee
meeting which will be held tomorrow and Saturday.
[03] POST OFFICE WORKERS ON STRIKE TODAY
Postal workers are conducting a 24-hour strike today, in
protest to the postal market-related bill which will be tabled in
Parliament.
The post office employees maintain that the said bill needs
to be improved in order to prevent concessions in the management
agreement terms which, as they say, will essentially impede the
course and development of the Greek postal services.
[04] PHILOXENIA '98 STARTS TODAY, S.E. EUROPE'S BIGGEST TOURISM
FAIR
The Helexpo-founded PHILOXENIA '98, the biggest tourism
exhibition in South-East Europe, starts in Thessaloniki today,
featuring 10,000 sq.m. of exhibition space and more than 350
exhibitors of the tourism industry from around the world.
Greece's Minister of Development Vaso Papandreou is to
inaugurate the opening of the fair, while the chairman of the
Association of British Travel Agencies Steven Freudmann will be
the key note speaker.
Among the sectors to be represented at the four-day fair are
hotels, apartment and other accommodation forms, transportation,
meeting, conference and incentive travel, tour operators, nature
and adventure trips, data communications and publications.
PHILOXENIA reached its peak last year with 369 exhibitors.
More analytically, 311 of these were from Greece while 58 from
abroad. The exhibitors presented their products to 10,000 visitors
of which 4,000 visitors with trade interest.
This year's event is jointly organized by Thessaloniki's
HELEXPO and Great Britain's REED EXHIBITIONS, a marketing company
which organizes 336 exhibitors worldwide, nine of which are for
the tourism sector .
The collaboration agreement, which is expected to be
finalized by the end of August, is expected to contribute
decisively to the improvement of services offered in the area of
international marketing. The two companies will sign a ten year
agreement commencing in1999.
[05] SWEDISH FOREIGN AID MINISTER TO VISIT GREECE THIS MONTH
Sweden's Foreign Aid Minister Pierre Schori is to arrive in
Greece next week in order to address an event in Athens on the
subject of "Greece and Sweden in a United Europe".
The address will be given next Thursday, November 12, at the
Athens Concert Hall.
Mr. Schori, a close friend and associate of the late Swedish
premier Olaf Palme, is known for the solidarity he showed to
Greek democrats during the seven- year military dictatorship (1967-
74).
James Bond and the Cyprus problem
[06] DEPUTY FM ON NEW EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Greece's deputy Foreign Minister Yiannos Kranidiotis
commented that the new European Court of Human Rights, inaugurated
two days ago at Strasbourg, constitutes a milestone in the efforts
promote human rights.
Mr. Kranidiotis, representing Greece which presently holds
the presidency of the Council of Europe, wished every success upon
the court's chairman Mr. Wildhaber and underlined the
significance of having chosen Greek professor Christos Rozakis for
the vice-chairman's post.
The new Court is being established in order to meet the
increasing needs that have arisen the developments in Europe
during the last decade. It will replace both the old court and the
C of E's Human Rights Committee.
Mr. Kranidiotis also met with the C of E's secretary-general
Daniel Tarchsys.
[07] TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS ARE THE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH FOR GREECE'S
YOUTH
Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for young
persons in Greece where, according to statistics, between 1,700-
2,000 individuals aged 17-24 are killed every year.
According to orthopedics professor Panayiotis Symeonides,
who presented startling data during a Western Macedonian Unions
Federation conference, the number of traffic-related deaths has
skyrocketed in the past 30 years. Specifically, over 40,000
Greeks lost their lives in car accidents between 1975-1995.
"During the course of WWII, Greece 18,000 lost their lives
and 50,000 were injured, whereas between 1976-'86 17,000 persons
were killed and 400,000 others were injured or maimed for life,"
the professor stated.
[08] PANGALOS: THE ELECTION PROCEDURE IN THE EXECUTIVE BUREAU OF
PASOK SHOULD CHANGE
Foreign minister Theodoros Pangalos called for the change of
the election procedure followed in the appointment of PASOK's
executive bureau members, while he also suggested the reduction of
their number, accusing its members of seeking to make the party
the minority in parliament. Mr. Pangalos said characteristically
that there shouldn't be executive bureau members who want PASOK to
become the minority in parliament.
On Ankara's behaviour, he pointed out that Greece wants
Turkey to make some basic goodwill actions and called on the Turks
to recognize the jurisdiction of the International Court of
Justice in The Hague.
[09] AMBASSADOR BURNS MADE POSITIVE COMMENTS ON GREECE
The role of Greece in the preservation of the climate of
stability in the wider region was underlined by US ambassador to
Athens Nicholas Burns, speaking in an event organized by the US
embassy commerce department. The US ambassador praised the Greek
actions made in the effort to defuse the crisis in Kosovo and
thanked the Greek government for its contribution to the issue.
Referring to the course of the Greek economy characterized it
as positive and calling for mass investments in Greece he pointed
out that the Greek market is one of the most interesting markets
of the next decade.
The US ambassador reiterated once again that his country is
interested in participating in the Greek armed forces armaments
program.
[10] THE EMPLOYMENT OF PENSIONERS WILL BE LIMITED
Issues such as, restrictions on the employment for
pensioners, widowhood pensions, the adoption of easier procedures
for pension requests and the social security of prostitutes will
be regulated in the second part of the small social security draft
bill that was presented by labor and social security minister
Miltiadis Papaioannou.
A basic new element of the draft bill is that widowers will
also have the right to receive a pension for a period of 3 years
regardless of the age of the surviving husband, who will continue
to receive the pension if he is over the age of 45. In case he is
already a pensioner his own pension will be cut to 30%.
[11] 109 PARLIAMENT DEPUTIES INVITE OCALAN TO GREECE
An invitation to visit Greece was issued to leader of the
Kurdish Labor party (PKK) Abdulah Ocalan by 109 Greek parliament
deputies who undertook the initiative.
Among the 109 parliament deputies are deputies of the
governing socialist party of PASOK and the opposition Democratic
Social Movement.
[12] REPPAS COMMENTED ON THE EU-TURKEY RAPPROCHEMENT
If Turkey has really decided to "unfreeze" its political
relations with the European Union it will be a very positive
development and Greece is in favour of the EU-Turkey
rapprochement, stated Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas.
Mr. Reppas added that such a rapprochement is feasible but it
remains to be seen if Ankara itself will prove in action that this
is its goal.
[13] FYROM GAVE A MISLEADING PICTURE OF THE MEETING ARCHBISHOP
CHRISTODOULOS HAD WITH SCHISMATIC PRIESTS
The effort made by circles of the Church of FYROM to present
the meeting Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All of Greece
had with representatives of the Church of FYROM at the border
outpost of Niki in Florina north-western Greece, as a recognition
of the schismatic Church of Skopje by the Church of Greece has
caused the intervention of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece.
The Holy Synod with a statement it has issued denies
everything that was broadcast by mass media in FYROM on the
content and the significance of the meeting. It is stressed that
the meeting was held at the initiative of FYROM and it is pointed
out that during the meeting no reference was made to a "macedonian
autocephalous Church". It is also stressed that the Archbishop
pointed out that the Church of Skopje must submit a written
request to the Church of Greece if it wants its mediation for the
opening of a dialogue with the Church of Serbia.
[14] THE US AMBASSADOR WILL INAUGURATE AN EXHIBITION OF GREEK AND
US ARTISTS
US ambassador Nicholas Burns together with Thessaloniki mayor
Dimitris Dimitriadis will inaugurate tomorrow evening a group
exhibition of Greek and American artists within the framework of
the annual cultural events "Dimitria" held in Thessaloniki.
The exhibition, which will be open until November 22, is
organized by the US consulate and the American education institute
Fullbright. The institute celebrates its 50th anniversary as it
was founded in 1948 based on a bilateral agreement signed by the
governments of Greece and the United States. It is a non-profit,
non-governmental organization and until now it has offered 2.300
scholarships to Greeks and 1.200 to Americans.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[15] NEW PLAN PROMOTED FOR KOSOVO
United States envoy Christopher Hill has embarked on a series
of contacts with the Serbs and Kosovo's Albanian leaders in order
to promote a new plan drawn by the United Nations to reach a
political solution to the Kosovo issue.
Mr. Hill had a series of contacts yesterday with
representatives from Kosovo's Albanian community, as well as with
the European Union's envoy for Kosovo Wolfgang Petric.
[16] A GREEK AMONG IN/AL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL'S NINE ELECTED JUDGES
The UN Security Council's General Assembly has elected nine
judges to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Greece's
Supreme Court Justice Dionysios Kondylis among them.
Six of the elected judges will replace those who have served
since 1995 on the two original Trial Chambers of the Tribunal when
their terms expire on 24 May 1999. The other three judges will
serve on a third Trial Chamber, established by the Security
Council in April this year to facilitate the work of the Tribunal.
The terms of all elected judges will expire on 24 May 2003.
While the six elected to the exiting Trial Chambers will assume
their post on 25 May 1999, the other three will start as soon as
possible following the elections so that the new third Trial
Chamber can start to function at the earliest possible date.
The Tribunal, which is based in Arusha, Tanzania, was
established by the Security Council on 8 November 1994 to
prosecute persons accused of genocide or other violations of
international humanitarian law committed in Rwanda or neighboring
territories in during that year.
The remaining eight judges are from South Africa, Senegal,
Turkey, Slovenia, Tanzania, Russia, Norway and Jamaica.
[17] C OF E APPEALS FOR WIDE PARTICIPATION IN ALBANIA'S
CONSTITUTION REFERENDUM
The Ministerial Committee of the Council of Europe is
appealing for the widest-possible participation in the November
22's referendum for Albanian constitution revision, in order to
complete the process for the benefit of the country.
The appeal was presented by the C of E's president, Greece's
alternate Foreign Minister George Papandreou, who expressed
optimism but concurrently asked the opposition parties to adopt
their positions within the institutions, without undermining them.
The C of E's "special role" within the multi-faceted Group
of Friends of Albania", which was founded on September 30, 1998,
and the "hands-on contribution of the Secretary General's special
envoy to Tirana for efforts to achieve stability", shall develop
into "close collaboration with OSCE and the EU", according to the
C of E.
Moreover, the C of E's outgoing president, as Greece is
handing over the presidium to Hungary, stated that the assurance
given recently by the Albanian government, which vowed to proceed
to a series of reforms in combating crime and corruption and
rebuilding the democratic institutions, is optimistic.
Nevertheless, Mr. Papandreou stressed that "when democratic
institutions are boycotted or faced with violence in the streets,
then they are undermined."
In response to reporters' questions, Mr. Papandreou stated
that the opposition holds a constructive role in Parliament, as
the democratic process calls for.
"There is democracy in Albania today, since there were
democratic elections and a democratically chosen government," he
said, albeit adding that it all depends on the means one uses in
order to form the decisions.
[18] A GREEK JUDGE WAS APPOINTED TO THE INTERNATIONAL COURT FOR
RWANDA
Greek judge Dionisios Kondilis was appointed member of the
International Court for Rwanda by the UN general assembly.
Mr. Kondilis came third with 112 votes compared to the 129
votes received by Ms. Navanethem Pillay from South Africa and to
the 125 votes received by Mr. Laity Kama from Senegal, who
occupied the first two places respectively.
|
