Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 98-12-03
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, December 3, 1998
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] CUSTOMS WORKERS STRIKE CRIPPLES FUEL MARKET
[02] ONLY ONE TRAIN PER ROUTE TO RUN, STRIKE CONTINUES UNTIL
TOMORROW
[03] STUDENTS PERSIST TO RESIST EDUCATIONAL REFORMS
[04] SAE CONTINUES SESSION IN THESSALONIKI
[05] CONFERENCE ON THE EMU TO BE HELD IN THESSALONIKI ON MONDAY
[06] OCTOBER'S UNEMPLOYMENT RATE SLIGHTLY DROPS IN N. GREECE
[07] NEW REQUEST FOR MEASURES AGAINST THE CUSTOMS EMPLOYEES'
STRIKE ACTION
[08] TUPURKOFSKI WILL BE IN THESSALONIKI NEXT WEEK
[09] THE FORMER SOVIET REPUBLICS ARE PLAGUED BY EPIDEMICS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[10] GREEK-AMERICANS AT THE WHITE HOUSE TO DISCUSS NATIONAL
INTEREST ISSUES
[11] BULENT ECEVIT APPOINTED PRIME MINISTER DESIGNATE IN TURKEY
[12] DELEGATION OF GREEK BUSINESSMEN TO MEET WITH FYROM'S
GOVERNMENT
[13] HOLOCAUST CONFERENCE MAY SET GUIDELINES ON RETURN OF LOOTED
ART
[14] MEGADATABASE TO DOCUMENT LIVES OF WARTIME EUROPEAN JEWS
[15] J.P.MORGAN: GREECE WILL BECOME 12TH MEMBER OF EMU
[16] MINOR OPPOSITION PARTY LEADER CONTINUES TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
[17] FYROM: TUPURKOVSKI TO VISIT THESSALONIKI NEXT WEEK
[18] GREECE WILL BECOME THE 12TH MEMBER OF THE EMU
[19] TURKEY'S FUNDING BY THE EU WAS CHARACTERIZED AS A "SCHEME"
BY MR. PANGALOS
[20] THE CYPRUS ISSUE WILL BE DISCUSSED IN THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] CUSTOMS WORKERS STRIKE CRIPPLES FUEL MARKET
Customs workers are pressing on with their strike which has
paralyzed the fuel market and the product imports-exports.
According to Undersecretary of Finance George Drys, the each
day of the strike costs 6.8 billion drachmas to the Greek state.
The head of the customs workers federation has insinuated
that the strike could roll into next week if their demands are not
met.
After the Ministry of Economy sought legal recourse to
declare the customs workers' action as illegal and abusive, the
Athens First Circuit Court ruled that the action is indeed
illegal, but not abusive.
[02] ONLY ONE TRAIN PER ROUTE TO RUN, STRIKE CONTINUES UNTIL
TOMORROW
Only one train per route will run today throughout the
country as the workers at the Greek Railways Organization, (OSE)
have upped the ante in their mobilizations by embarking on 24-hour
rotating strikes until Friday.
The rail workers are protesting a bill tabled in Parliament
which calls for reforms in their sector.
Court employees have also announced that they will hold a 48-
hour warning strike for the sake of their economic and
institutional demands.
[03] STUDENTS PERSIST TO RESIST EDUCATIONAL REFORMS
Greek high school and university students are to conduct
massive rallies in Thessaloniki, Athens and other large cities
today, expressing their resistance to academic reforms proposed by
Education Minister Gerasimos Arsenis.
Defying the low temperatures, the persistent students will
block 14 major roads in Athens and will conduct a rally to the
building housing the Ministry of Education.
The President of the Hellenic Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos
stated that he advocates the reforms and advised the students to
stop the sit-ins at the school buildings.
[04] SAE CONTINUES SESSION IN THESSALONIKI
Yesterday's session of the nine-member board of the Council
of Greeks Abroad (SAE), held in Thessaloniki, was dedicated to the
Greeks from the former Soviet Union and the program of
establishing 21 medical clinics in the former block's republics.
The President of the SAE Andrew Athens presented the results
of a televised marathon which amassed $837,000 for the creation of
the clinics which will provide free health services in Russia,
Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and would
also be open to the local population.
Today's session will deal with changes in the presidential
decree concerning the formation of SAE's plenary session, next
year's budget and the upcoming World Youth Conference.
[05] CONFERENCE ON THE EMU TO BE HELD IN THESSALONIKI ON MONDAY
A conference titled "The target of EMU and the Challenge of
Social Europe. The Liberal and Social-Democrat Proposal" is to be
held in Thessaloniki on Monday, organized by the Political
Research and Dialogue Group.
Featured among the speakers will be PASOK deputy Haris
Kastanides, New Democracy deputy Dora Bakoyianni and Coalition of
the Left and Progress deputy Yiannis Dragasakis.
[06] OCTOBER'S UNEMPLOYMENT RATE SLIGHTLY DROPS IN N. GREECE
The registered unemployment rate slightly dropped in northern
Greece during the month of October, falling to 9.9%, according to
the Organization for Staff Employment (OAED).
August's rate was 10.38% , dropping to 10.3% in September.
Also according to OAED, 10,569 persons lost their jobs in northern
Greece in October.
[07] NEW REQUEST FOR MEASURES AGAINST THE CUSTOMS EMPLOYEES'
STRIKE ACTION
Prime minister Kostas Simitis met with the leadership of the
ministry of labor today. The new request for measures that was
submitted in court by the ministry of finance, this time
concerning the new strike action with new demands announced by the
customs employees yesterday, will be discussed later in the
afternoon.
Meanwhile, the fuel market and the distribution of goods has
paralyzed, while according to the ministry of finance the strike
costs 6.8 billion drachmas each day.
[08] TUPURKOFSKI WILL BE IN THESSALONIKI NEXT WEEK
Vasil Tupurkofski, leader of FYROM's Democratic Alternative
party that participates in the government coalition, will be in
Thessaloniki next week.
During his visit will have contacts with the management of
the port of Thessaloniki Organization as the chairman of the newly
formed Reconstruction and Development Organization of FYROM..
[09] THE FORMER SOVIET REPUBLICS ARE PLAGUED BY EPIDEMICS
Epidemics and diseases that are a distant past for the
developed countries are plaguing the population of the
Commonwealth of Independent States. Shocking facts on the problems
faced by the people living in the CIS were presented by medicine
professor Kiriakos Kanakis in a formal dinner that was given
yesterday in honor of the local authorities in Thessaloniki by
World Council of Hellenes Abroad (SAE) president Mr. Andrew
Athens.
It should be noted that SAE plans to open over 20 clinics in
the former Soviet Republics in order to help the Greeks living
there and the local population that face high mortality rates.
In Ukraine, 26% of the population dies before reaching
pension age, while infant mortality is 14.3 in every 1.000 births.
Heart diseases are blamed for 60.5% of the deaths in Ukraine and
cancer for 12% of the deaths.
In Georgia, tuberculosis has become an epidemic and 80% of
the population is considered to be malnourished. Diphtheria hits
the population for the first time after WWII, while there is not
even one cardiology center in the country in spite of the fact
that heart diseases are the main cause of death.
In Uzbekistan, are recorded increased cases of polio and
diphtheria and unusually high rates of birth defects as well as,
high mortality rates among infants and mothers.
In Kazakstan, the average life expectancy dropped by 3.7
years when the death rate increased by 6.3% and the birth rate
dropped by 15.4%. Infant mortality increased to 25.3 deaths in
every 1.000 births, compared to 7-9/1000 in the developed
countries.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[10] GREEK-AMERICANS AT THE WHITE HOUSE TO DISCUSS NATIONAL
INTEREST ISSUES
A delegation of Greek-Americans leaders is to visit the White
House today in order to discuss matters of national interest, such
as Greek-Turkish relations and the Cyprus issue, with the US
President's National Security adviser Sandi Berger.
According to reports, President Clinton is expected to
briefly attend the session which will feature the participation of
US coordinator for Cyprus Thomas Miller and other Sate Department
officials.
[11] BULENT ECEVIT APPOINTED PRIME MINISTER DESIGNATE IN TURKEY
Turkish President Suleiman Demirel has assigned the formation
of a new government to Bulent Ecevit who accepted the order and is
expected to cooperate with the parties of outgoing Premier Mesut
Yilmaz and former PM Tansu Ciller.
Mr. Ecevit's cabinet will lead the country to April's general
elections.
[12] DELEGATION OF GREEK BUSINESSMEN TO MEET WITH FYROM'S
GOVERNMENT
The Trans-Balkan and Black Sea Business Center (DIPEK) is
organizing a mission to FYROM today, where Greek businessmen are
to become acquainted with the country's new government.
The event is taking place within the framework of the Greek
Products Exhibit currently held at Skopje.
FYROM's new Prime Minister and leader of the "Democratic
Alternative" Liupco Georgievski is to unveil his government's
policy during the meeting, this being his first appearance at an
international level following his cabinet's formation.
The meeting, which is held for a second successive year,
DIPEK will present its "FYROM Business Guide" and its "Report on
FYROM's Economic Cohesion".
[13] HOLOCAUST CONFERENCE MAY SET GUIDELINES ON RETURN OF LOOTED
ART
Delegates from 44 countries, including Greece, attending a
Holocaust conference held in Washington have agreed on a set of 11
principles that would enforce a moral commitment to identify and
publicize works of art looted by the Nazis during WWII so the
original owners can claim them.
Under the 11 principles, countries are called on to make an
active commitment to encourage the process of identifying the
stolen art and returning it to the rightful owners. For the past
50 years, many governments have obstructed such claims. One of the
ways to facilitate the process is a
a central registry of information about art looted by the Nazis,
to be established on the Internet, so that claimants can have easy
access to it.
Nevertheless, a the conference failed to reach a consensus on
the issue of returning stolen art as Switzerland, France and
Germany have requested that a clause be inserted in the draft
document which would clearly state that the principles are not
binding and that each country acts within the context of its own
laws.
Progress was noted on other aspects of the conference such
as insurance claims filed by Holocaust survivors or the relatives
of victims, claims to communal property and education about the
Holocaust.
A major breakthrough was achieved in October when the U.S.
National Association of Insurance Commissioners, six European
insurance companies and several European supervisory bodies
agreed to set up a $90 million humanitarian fund to aid Holocaust
victims and to conduct an audit of their books to identify unpaid
Holocaust-era claims.
[14] MEGADATABASE TO DOCUMENT LIVES OF WARTIME EUROPEAN JEWS
The Israeli delegation attending the Washington-held
international Holocaust conference, which concludes today, has
announced that its Yad Vashem Holocaust institute is compiling a
computerized megadatabase" documenting the lives of millions of
wartime European Jews.
The database, the first of its kind, could potentially track
someone from a list of Jewish ghetto residents to a slave labor
factory to a concentration camp and through postwar life.
The chairman of Yad Vashem, called it "the absolute needed
tool" for researchers and claimants, who will be able to access
it.
Britain also suggested holding an international "Holocaust
Day of Remembrance" each year for victims of Hitler's troops. Each
country would select dates, but the British suggested three
possibilities: January 27, the anniversary of the liberation of
the Auschwitz concentration camp; June 12, Anne Frank's birthday;
and Yom Ha Sho'ah, a day in the Jewish calendar for Holocaust
remembrance, which falls on a different date each year.
Greece is represented at the conference by Greece's
Ambassador in Washington Alexandros Filon, History professor
George Dertilis, Foreign Ministry's Historical Archives Director
Fotini Konstantopoulou, the secretary-general of the Israeli
Community of Thessaloniki Albert Hawel, History professor Hagen
Fliser, and researcher Gabriela Etmektsoglou.
A special edition issued by the Foreign Ministry and titled
"Documents on the History of the Greek Jews", will be presented
in a ceremony at the Greek Embassy in Washington this evening.
[15] J.P.MORGAN: GREECE WILL BECOME 12TH MEMBER OF EMU
Financial analysts from J.P. Morgan have assessed that
Greece will become the 12th country to enter the Economic and
Monetary Union, given the positive curse of the country's economy.
Speaking at a road show on the Greek economy, analyst Rebecca
Peterson stated that Greece is presently at the point where Italy
was two years ago, stressing that both the course of the country's
macro-economic sizes and the national currency's accession to the
Mechanism of Exchange Parity are two most encouraging signs.
Nevertheless, a sine qua non for achieving accession to the
EMU is the government to proceed with reforms.
[16] MINOR OPPOSITION PARTY LEADER CONTINUES TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
The leader of the Democratic Social Movement (DHKKI),
Dimitris Tsovolas, continues his nine-day tour of Australia, which
began yesterday, invited by the Greek-Australian communities of
Melbourne and Sydney.
Mr. Tsovolas will be received by the State Premier of
Victoria Jeff Kennet today and will also meet with federal
government officials.
[17] FYROM: TUPURKOVSKI TO VISIT THESSALONIKI NEXT WEEK
The leader of FYROM's Democratic Alternative Solution party,
which is participating in the coalition government, Vasil
Tupurkovski is to visit Thessaloniki next week.
According to local press reports, Mr. Tupurkovski will meet
with officials from the Thessaloniki Port Authority as the
president of the newly-formed organization of Rebuilding and
Development of Skopje.
Responding to a question on the progress of name-related
talks between the two countries, Mr. Tupurkovski refuted reports
that FYROM is on the verge of accepting a solution that will
contain the name "Republic of Macedonia-Skopje.
"It is still too early and we need to see the development of
the negotiations held in New York under the aegis of the United
Nations," he stated.
He added that economic cooperation between Greece and FYROM
needs to further develop since "we are neighbors and friends."
[18] GREECE WILL BECOME THE 12TH MEMBER OF THE EMU
Economic analyst Rebecca Peterson, who represents the
international organization J.P.Morgan, expressed the certainty
that Greece will become the 12th member of the EMU.
Speaking on the Greek economy in Milan, Ms. Peterson
expressed certainty that Greece will join the EMU based on the
positive course of its economic indexes. "Greece is at the same
point with Italy two years ago" she maintained and pointed out
that both the course of the macro-economic indexes and drachma's
participation in the European Exchange Rate Mechanism create
favorable prospects.
[19] TURKEY'S FUNDING BY THE EU WAS CHARACTERIZED AS A "SCHEME"
BY MR. PANGALOS
Greek foreign minister Theodoros Pangalos in an interview
with the BBC radio, criticized the European Commission accusing it
of using indirect means in its effort to achieve the funding of
Turkey.
Mr. Pangalos pointed out that with the way Turkey is funded
are violated basic rules of the EU operation and spoke of a
"scheme", while he stressed that the issue could bring Greece
against the European Commission before the European Court of
Justice.
Responding to the question on what Greece will do in case the
EU Commission proposal, which by-passes the Greek veto on Turkey's
funding is accepted, Mr. Pangalos said that the EU Commission
wants to give the money to Turkey in spite of Greece's objections
in every possible way and based on the argument that Turkey is an
underdeveloped country. Mr. Pangalos argued at this point if an
underdeveloped country can become an EU member, stressing that
this is a terrible contradiction.
According to Mr. Pangalos, the EU Commission's position is
not only against Greece but against the European parliament as
well, which already has pointed out the European Commission's
doings. The Greek foreign minister reiterated Greece's right to
appeal to the European Court of Justice and stressed that this has
happened before in the past. Greece will win the case against the
EU Commission and this way the funding will stop, said Mr.
Pangalos.
Mr. Pangalos said that Greece does not want to be Ankara's
enemy No 1 but he added that a way of thinking and behavior should
be imposed on Turkey that has to do with the respect of human
rights and freedoms and with the non use of force in the solution
of any disputes it maintains that it has with Greece.
[20] THE CYPRUS ISSUE WILL BE DISCUSSED IN THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
For the first time after 15 years the Cyprus issue will be
put for discussion in the UN general assembly.
Cyprus' permanent representative in the United Nations Sotos
Zakheos has already informed the general assembly meeting
president on his government's intentions.
For the moment, no date has been set for the discussion of
the issue in the general assembly meeting. It should be noted that
the Cyprus issue is always on the daily agenda of the UN general
assembly but no discussion has been made on the issue since 1983.
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