Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 98-11-06
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, November 6, 1998
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] PASOK CENTRAL COMMITTEE EMBARKS ON TWO-DAY CONGRESS TODAY
[02] CHEAPER CARS AS EARLY AS NEXT WEEK, IN AN EFFORT TO CURB
INFLATION
[03] INFLATION RATE TAKES A PLUNGE IN OCTOBER
[04] NEW MACEDONIA-THRACE MINISTER INAUGURATES PHILOXENIA
EXPOSITION
[05] GREEK PM WILL TRAVEL TO WARSAW TO MEET WITH POLISH
COUNTERPART
[06] AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL-GREECE ISSUES REPORT ON US HUMAN RIGHTS
ABUSES
[07] GREEK AIR FORCE HONORS ITS PATRON, ARCHANGEL MICHAEL
[08] THESSALONIKI'S DESIGN MUSEUM AT INTERNATIONAL BIENNALE 1998
[09] THE GOVERNMENTAL COMMITTEE MET TODAY
[10] THE US STANCE TOWARD GREECE HAS NOT CHANGED
[11] PANGALOS: GREECE WILL BE A CANDIDATE AGAIN FOR THE POSITION
OF UN SECURITY COUNCIL NON-PERMANENT MEMBER
[12] NIKOS ZABOUNIDIS IS THE NEW CHAIRMAN OF THE PARLIAMENTARY
GROUP OF FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN GREECE AND THE BALKAN STATES
[13] KAKLAMANIS WILL MEET WITH A US SENATOR ON MONDAY
[14] INFLATION DROPPED TO 4.7% IN THE MONTH OF OCTOBER
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[15] UN SECRETARY GENERAL ISSUES REPORT ON KOSOVO
[16] GREEK FILMMAKER YIANNIS SMARAGDIS HONORED IN US FOR "KAVAFIS"
[17] AIDONIA TREASURE EXHIBITION IN AUSTRALIA NEXT WEEK
[18] ISRAEL WILL NOT RATIFY THE PEACE DEAL WITH THE PALESTINIANS
[19] THE TREASURES OF THE MONASTERY OF HILANDARIOU ARE EXHIBITED
IN BELGRADE
[20] PROTOCOL OF COOPERATION SIGNED BY THE STATISTICS AGENCIES OF
GREECE AND FYROM
[21] GERMAN TV DOCUMENTARY ON OLD AND MODERN LESVOS
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] PASOK CENTRAL COMMITTEE EMBARKS ON TWO-DAY CONGRESS TODAY
The ruling PASOK party's Central Committee is to embark on a
two-day congress this evening in Athens, while its Executive
Bureau met yesterday night.
The Central Committee's secretary Kostas Skandalides told
reporters that the participants discussed the results of the
recent municipal and prefectural elections. According to reports,
the Prime Minister Kostas Simitis has made it clear that there
will be no reshuffling in the Executive Bureau.
[02] CHEAPER CARS AS EARLY AS NEXT WEEK, 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 whose prices could be reduced by an average five per
cent. The relevant legislation is to be tabled in Parliament
within the following days.
According to reports, the lower car prices will be effective
as soon as the legislation is ratified and the reductions could
mean GRD 300,000 less for an automobile of 1400 horsepower. A
According to the Laborers' Federation, the average consumer will
pay approximately GRD2,000 less a month.
[03] INFLATION RATE TAKES A PLUNGE IN OCTOBER
The inflation rate dropped to 4.7-4.8% last month, a notable
reduction when compared to September's 5.2 %.
The chairman of the Bank of Piraeus Michalis Salas has
requested that the National Bank of Greece reduce its standard
interest rates by 2.25-2.5%.
[04] NEW MACEDONIA-THRACE MINISTER INAUGURATES PHILOXENIA
EXPOSITION
The newly-appointed Minister of Macedonia-Thrace Minister
Yiannis Magriotis, inaugurated the 14th Philoxenia exposition at
the International Trade Fair of Thessaloniki yesterday, where he
forecast "an explosion of tourism activity".
Mr. Magriotis stated that he expects the tourism flow to
increase given Greece's expected EMU accession.
The minister stated that the port, airports, railway and
highways infrastructure improvements are "inflexible options" and
added that "the state and the professionals in the tourism section
must jointly work on creating a complete program of tourism
development ".
[05] GREEK PM WILL TRAVEL TO WARSAW TO MEET WITH POLISH
COUNTERPART
Prime Minister Kostas Simitis will pay a two-day visit to
Warsaw on November 9-10 at the invitation of his Polish
counterpart Jerzy Buzek, it was announced yesterday.
During his stay, Mr. Simitis will have talks with Mr. Buzek
on bilateral and international issues.
He will also meet with Polish President Aleksander
Kwasniewski and have talks with the speakers of Poland's house of
representatives and senate and political party leaders.
[06] AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL-GREECE ISSUES REPORT ON US HUMAN RIGHTS
ABUSES
United States ambassador to Athens Nicholas Burns was handed
an Amnesty International report on abuses of human rights in the
United States, drawn by the Greek branch of the international
human rights organization.
Members of the delegation gave Mr. Burns a replica of the
Statue of Liberty as a poignant reminder that the United States,
often touting itself as a crusader of human rights throughout the
world, has not yet managed to ensure the protection of human
rights, both within the U.S. and abroad, as the group stated.
Amnesty's report focuses on the "violation of human rights in
the US by police officers and prison guards as well as the
arbitrary and discriminatory use of the death penalty and tendency
to imprison those requesting political asylum."
Moreover, the report criticizes the US for its "double
standard in foreign policy and commitments to protecting human
rights elsewhere in the world".
According to the general secretary of Amnesty International
Pierre Chanet, by being the "biggest producer and exporter of arms
in the world, the US contributes to the violation of human rights
by other governments and to abuses by armed groups , including
torture and political murder".
Mr. Chanet pointed to the case of Turkey, where in 1995,
according to a US State Department report, American-made military
equipment was used in the displacement of Kurdish villagers and
during other human rights abuses.
[07] GREEK AIR FORCE HONORS ITS PATRON, ARCHANGEL MICHAEL
Greece's Air Force is honoring today its patron Archangel
Michael, although the series of festivities and events programmed
to take place have been canceled due to the death of 26-year-old
pilot Nikolaos Panousis who heroically delayed his ejection from a
Mirage-2000 fighter jet in serious mechanical trouble, in order to
prevent the plane from crashing in a populated area. The crash
occurred on Wednesday.
The air force bases will be open to the public today until
Sunday.
[08] THESSALONIKI'S DESIGN MUSEUM AT INTERNATIONAL BIENNALE 1998
The Design Museum of Thessaloniki will participate in the
international Biennale Design 19898, which will be held at Saint-
Ettien, France between November 7-15.
Fifty countries and 800 designers are to participate in the
exhibition which will feature the presentation of 3,500 products,
as well as a series of lectures, seminars and workshops.
[09] THE GOVERNMENTAL COMMITTEE MET TODAY
The governmental committee met today presided over by prime
minister Kostas Simitis to discuss the third EU framework of
support and the course of the absorption of funds from the second
package.
Meanwhile, PASOK's central committee meeting opens this
afternoon and will be completed tomorrow. There is great interest
in the speech prime minister Kostas Simitis is scheduled to
deliver as well as in the stance of the so-called "in-party
opposition" and the leading members of the party. Also, an
assessment will be made on the results of the recent local
elections.
[10] THE US STANCE TOWARD GREECE HAS NOT CHANGED
The stance of the United States toward Greece and Cyprus has
not changed, while Richard Halbrooke is expected to visit Athens,
Nicosia and Ankara, stated US ambassador to Athens Nicholas Burns
immediately after his meeting with Thessaloniki prefect Kostas
Papadopoulos.
The US ambassador briefed Mr. Papadopoulos on the interest
displayed by American businesses for investments in Thessaloniki
and requested greater support for "Anatolia" American College. Mr.
Burns stated that "Anatolia" College will offer a programme of
government studies named after the Greek-American former US
Senator Michael Dukakis.
Later, Mr. Burns met with minister of Macedonia-Thrace
Yiannis Magriotis.
[11] PANGALOS: GREECE WILL BE A CANDIDATE AGAIN FOR THE POSITION
OF UN SECURITY COUNCIL NON-PERMANENT MEMBER
Greece will be a candidate again for the position of UN
Security Council non-permanent member in the year 2005, said
foreign minister Theodoros Pangalos in parliament today,
responding to a question by former foreign minister of the
opposition party of New Democracy Mr. Varvitsiotis.
Mr. Pangalos characterized the fight Greece gave to become an
non-permanent member as unequal, while he strongly criticized the
stance adopted by a so-called friendly country which held a
negative stance toward Greece based on the argument that Greece
would take advantage of its position in the UN Security Council in
the problems it has with Turkey. Mr. Pangalos said
characteristically that unfortunately sometimes friends are proved
to be worse than enemies.
[12] NIKOS ZABOUNIDIS IS THE NEW CHAIRMAN OF THE PARLIAMENTARY
GROUP OF FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN GREECE AND THE BALKAN STATES
Governing socialist party of PASOK parliament deputy Nikos
Zabounidis was appointed chairman of the parliamentary group of
friendship between Greece and the Balkan states taking the place
of Yiannis Magriotis who was appointed minister of Macedonia-
Thrace.
Mr. Zabounidis expressed satisfaction for his appointment and
referred to the significant role he can play in the promotion of
cooperation with Balkan countries, while he also announced that a
parliamentary delegation from Bulgaria will visit Athens and
Thessaloniki next week.
[13] KAKLAMANIS WILL MEET WITH A US SENATOR ON MONDAY
Greek parliament president Apostolos Kaklamanis will meet on
November 9 in Athens with US Senator from the state of Maine Ms.
Olympia Snowe.
Ms. Snowe is the first Greek-American woman elected to the US
Senate in 1994 with the Republican party.
[14] INFLATION DROPPED TO 4.7% IN THE MONTH OF OCTOBER
Inflation dropped to 4.7% in Greece in the month of October
compared to 5.2% in September, according to the National
Statistics Agency.
The drop is attributed to the cuts in the prices of gas, ship
fares, cars, heating oil and food.
In statements he made after the governmental committee
meeting minister of national economy and finance Yiannos
Papantoniou speculated that the drop of inflation will continue
and the 2% limit will be reached soon allowing Greece to enter the
economic and monetary union.
The drop of inflation has a positive effect on the economy as
it accelerates the interest rates cuts, speeds-up investments and
the economic growth process, said Mr. Papantoniou.
Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said that the
cabinet will discuss the 1999 budget next Wednesday and in the
evening of that day it will be tabled in parliament.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[15] UN SECRETARY GENERAL ISSUES REPORT ON KOSOVO
The human rights situation in Kosovo continues to be cause
for grave concern, according to a new report released by Secretary-
General Kofi Annan yesterday.
The report notes that since April, the scope and intensity of
the conflict in Kosovo grew dramatically while the human rights
situation deteriorated. Prospects for improvement arose following
the agreement reached in mid- October between President Slobodan
Milosevic and United States envoy Richard Holbrooke.
"Serious human rights abuses were being reported on a daily
basis throughout the summer and early autumn," the Secretary-
General observes.
The period since August has been marked by more discoveries
of concentrations of corpses and evidence of massacres, including
the massacre of Serb and Albanian civilians, according to the
report, which details evidence of the killings.
Under the Milosevic-Holbrooke accord, up to 2000 monitors of
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
will be stationed in Kosovo, comprising the Kosovo Verification
Mission. Meanwhile, the United Nations Special Rapporteur and the
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights are active
throughout the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. "The need for an
expanded international human rights presence, linked to the
establishment of office premises of the Office of the High
Commissioner in Kosovo and undertaken in consultation with OSCE,
remains urgent as the human rights situation in the region
continues to be grave cause for concern," the Secretary-General
concludes.
[16] GREEK FILMMAKER YIANNIS SMARAGDIS HONORED IN US FOR "KAVAFIS"
The American Directors Guild has invited the Greek director
Yiannis Smaragdis to join its team, following the "public
recognition of his talent" through his film " Kavafis ", a poetic
and sweeping work concerning the life and times of one of Greece's
most renowned poets Konstantinos Kavafis (1863 - 1933).
"Kavafis" was given the National Award for Best Greek Feature
Film for 1997, blending
exquisitely beautiful cinematography and a remarkable score by
Greece's Vangelis Papathanasiou.
It enjoyed immense success at the six American festivals
where it has been screened so far, with the most significant being
in San Francisco where 1,000 people reportedly had to be turned
away from the 1,600-seat cinema.
Mr. Smaragdis was present at San Francisco's sold-out
screening where he received resounding applause.
The film is a passage through the memories of the poet's
youth. Kavafis, alone, lies ill in a
a hospital bed in Alexandria, but his memories are revived through
the words of the young biographer who has come to read his
writings to Kavafis, seeking the poet's accord before publishing.
Alexandria, his childhood, the poet's relationship with his
mother, the life of privilege until the Arab uprising, and their
flight to Constantinople all are part of Kavafis 's life. But it
is the city night life and its pervading eroticism etched in his
memory, and attested throughout his writing, where his sexual
preference begins to blossom. The movie journeys through his
return to Alexandria and the death of his mother, when Kavafis
travels to Greece and meets a young poet.
[17] AIDONIA TREASURE EXHIBITION IN AUSTRALIA NEXT WEEK
The Aidonia Treasure Exhibition, a valuable collection of
late Aegean Bronze Age objects, will be exhibited in Melbourne,
Australia next week, when Greece's Minister of Culture Evangelos
Venizelos will inaugurate the Hellenic Antiquities Museum on
Monday, November 9.
This the first time these priceless objects, Minoan -
Mycenaean in style, go on permanent display outside Greece and the
exhibition will be rotated regularly.
The Australian press has hailed the event as "an
extraordinary exhibition coup for Victoria, a gesture of great
generosity by the Greek side."
The treasures, comprising gold rings, sealstones, gold
clothing ornaments, semiprecious stones, amber and glass, first
surfaced in 1993 in New York, where it was placed on auction at
the Michael Ward Gallery.
One month later, the Greek government took legal action to
cancel the auction. It sought the return of the objects, by
claiming they were acquired during an illegal excavation at
Aidonia, near Nemea in the Peloponnese.
The auction was canceled by court order. Negotiations
established an agreement so that these precious object could be
returned to their rightful owner, Greece, this setting a legal
precedent.
The Michael Ward Gallery donated them to the Society for the
Preservation of Greek Heritage, a Washington-based cultural
foundation, which exhibited them in Dallas and Washington, before
returning them to Greece in January 1996.
The collection includes one large gold signet ring which is a
unique depiction of a vivid Bronze Age hunting scene.
The 31 objects are examples of Mycenaean craftsmanship from
the 15th century BC, predating the Trojan war. Two items date from
the 16th century BC and are most likely of Minoan origin, the
great Cretan Proto-European civilization discovered at Knossos by
Sir Arthur Evans.
[18] ISRAEL WILL NOT RATIFY THE PEACE DEAL WITH THE PALESTINIANS
The Israeli government decided against the ratification of
the peace deal reached with the Palestinians in Washington unless
the Palestinian authority takes action to counter terrorism.
Palestinian president Yasser Arafat condemned today's bomb
attack that killed two people in Jerusalem and called on Israeli
prime minister Benjamin Netanjiahu not to abandon the efforts for
the ratification of the peace deal.
[19] THE TREASURES OF THE MONASTERY OF HILANDARIOU ARE EXHIBITED
IN BELGRADE
An exhibition of the treasures of the Monastery of
Hilandariou will be inaugurated in the Serb Academy of Sciences
and Arts in Belgrade today on the occasion of the 800 years since
the founding of the monastery.
In the inauguration will be present Patriarch Pavle of
Serbia, while a speech will be delivered by the president of the
Serb Academy of Sciences and Arts. The exhibition includes 68
valuable pieces (manuscripts, icons etc).
[20] PROTOCOL OF COOPERATION SIGNED BY THE STATISTICS AGENCIES OF
GREECE AND FYROM
A protocol of cooperation was signed in Skopje by FYROM's
Statistics Agency director Mr. Gerasimofski and Greek National
Statistics Agency general secretary Mr. Karavitis.
In statements they made, the representatives of the
statistics agencies of the two countries expressed the belief that
the protocol will promote their cooperation and the exchange of
information with economic interest.
[21] GERMAN TV DOCUMENTARY ON OLD AND MODERN LESVOS
The German television programme "Sudwest" aired a documentary
on the Aegean island of Lesvos. "The island of Lesvos" by Doris
Metz is the second part of a trilogy Ms. Metz started in 1996 with
a documentary that presents the region between Thessaloniki and
Alexandroupolis where tobacco is being cultivated.
In 45 minutes Ms. Metz managed to present the history of the
island, the personality of Sapfo, who was called "the 10th muse"
by Socrates and the uprooting of the Greeks from Asia Minor with
footage from Ismir in 1922. Also, the documentary presented
today's economic problems faced by the people in Lesvos, the
problems of modern women, the hard work and the friction with
Turkey.
The documentary will be aired soon by the television
programme "ARTE" as well.
|
