Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 98-01-12
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, January 12, 1999
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] VOCAL DEBATE HELD IN PARLIAMENT LAST NIGHT OVER EDUCATION
[02] GREEK PRIME MINISTER IN SPAIN TODAY
[03] NATO, PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE DEFENSE MINISTERS IN ATHENS
[04] ALTERNATE FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS WITH TUPURKOVSKI
[05] ÂÅÁR STEARNS HAILS GREEK BONDS
[06] OPE-DIPEK FORM COMMON FRONT IN THE BALKANS
[07] THE GREEK GOVERNMENT WISHES POLITICAL STABILITY TO TURKEY
[08] AGREEMENT FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE IN
THE BALKANS
[09] THE TENSION IN THE SECTOR OF EDUCATION CONTINUES
[10] 34% OF THE DANES CHOOSE GREECE AS THEIR HOLIDAY DESTINATION
[11] PAPASTEFANOU: THE ALLEGATIONS ON THE POLLUTION OF NESTOS
RIVER BY RADIATION ARE SCIENTIFICALLY UNFOUNDED
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[12] PASOK DELEGATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST
[13] ANN HERCUS TO HOLD TALKS WITH ANNAN, COOK OVER CYPRUS ISSUE
[14] MONTENEGRO: KLA AMMUNITION CONFISCATED BY AUTHORITIES
[15] KOSOVO: JOURNALIST MURDERED, CLOSE ASSOCIATE OF RUGOVA
[16] TENSION AGAIN IN KOSOVO
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] VOCAL DEBATE HELD IN PARLIAMENT LAST NIGHT OVER EDUCATION
Tempers flared in Parliament yesterday evening, when the
discussion concerned the beleaguered education sector. Prime
Minster Kostas Simitis unleashed a verbal attack against main
opposition party New Democracy (ND) and the Communist Party of
Greece (KKE), accusing their leaders of instigating the students'
protests in order to satisfy their party interests.
Furthermore, he accused the teachers of pursuing
juxtaposition with the government, opposing the educational
reforms without proposing alternatives.
N.D. leader Kostas Karamanlis, in his riposte, told the
Premier that he is deeply disillusioned if he believes that
today's youth can actually be influenced by political parties.
Also, KKE's secretary-general Aleka Paparega said that her
party does not instigate the students, it simply informs them.
[02] GREEK PRIME MINISTER IN SPAIN TODAY
Prime minister Kostas Simitis is embarking on a three-day
visit to Spain today where he will meet with his Spanish
counterpart Jose Maria Aznar.
Their talks will concern bilateral ties and European Union
matters. During his stay, Mr. Simitis will be received by the
Spanish royals and will meet with the President of the
International Olympic Committee Juan Antonio Samaranch.
He is accompanied by the ministers of Foreign Affairs
Theodoros Pangalos, Culture Evangelos Venizelos, Press Dimitris
Reppas and the Undersecretary of National Economy Alexandros
Baltas.
[03] NATO, PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE DEFENSE MINISTERS IN ATHENS
Defense ministers of NATO members countries participating in
the Partnership for Peace program are meeting in Athens today in
order to sign a supplementary protocol to the treaty establishing
a multinational peacekeeping force in southeast Europe.
Greece's Defense Minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos will open the
proceedings. The additional protocol contains proposals drafted by
military experts during their recent Istanbul meeting on issues
that remained unresolved..
The defense ministers of Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy,
and the Romanian chief of staff will be participating in the
meeting. Slovenia and the United States will attend as observers.
The Turkish defense minister has been invited but it was unclear
whether he would be able to attend.
[04] ALTERNATE FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS WITH TUPURKOVSKI
The leader of FYROM's Democratic Alternative Party Vasil
Tupurkovski met with Greece's alternate Foreign Minster George
Papandreou in Athens yesterday.
According to reports, the two men exchanged points of view on
the course of bilateral relations and the Olympic truce, since Mr.
Tupurkovski is the president of FYROM's Olympic Committee.
The meeting was characterized as informal since it was not
officially announced and was held outside the Ministry's premises.
[05] ÂÅÁR STEARNS HAILS GREEK BONDS
Bearns Sterns has stated that the Greek bonds market is to
skyrocket during 1999, an assessment similar to those made by
Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.
In its latest country report on Greece, Bear Sterns was
quoted as saying that Greece's bond and stock markets had entered
into a virtuous cycle of falling interest rates and inflation.
If, as expected, inflation falls to 2.5 percent in April,
then it will approach the government's 2.0 percent target for 1999
which, in turn, will facilitate the country's entry into the
Economic and Monetary Union by January 1, 2001.
[06] OPE-DIPEK FORM COMMON FRONT IN THE BALKANS
The Inter-Balkan and Black Sea Center (DIPEK) and the Exports
Promotion Organization (OPE) are to soon form a common front for
the promotion and strengthening of Greek ventures in the Balkans.
The said cooperation was proposed by the Minster of Macedonia-
Thrace Yiannis Magriotis during his meeting with the chairman of
OPE.
[07] THE GREEK GOVERNMENT WISHES POLITICAL STABILITY TO TURKEY
The Greek government's wish is for political stability in
Turkey in order for the country to follow a European orientation
and become a reliable interlocutor, stressed acting government
spokesman Yiannis Nikolaou commenting on the formation of a new
government in the neighboring country.
Mr. Nikolaou said that Greece's position and demand is that
every Turkish government should respect international treaties and
contribute to good neighborly relations and peace in the region.
[08] AGREEMENT FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE IN
THE BALKANS
The agreement for the establishment of a multi-national force
in the Balkans was signed in Athens today by the south-eastern
European ministers of defense.
Based on the rotating command principle that was adopted
after a proposal made by Greek minister of defense Akis
Tsochatzopoulos, the command of the force will be taken over
initially by a Turkish officer, while the headquarters of the
force will be initially in Plovdiv, Bulgaria and at this stage
head of its political-military committee will be Greece.
The defense ministers of Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Italy,
Romania, Albania and FYROM also discussed in detail the
developments in Kosovo. A common conclusion was that there is a
need for the immediate opening of negotiations between the ethnic
Albanians and the Serb leadership to find a political solution to
the problem.
[09] THE TENSION IN THE SECTOR OF EDUCATION CONTINUES
The tension in the sector of education continues. It is
estimated that of the 3.500 schools across the country 450 are
still under student occupation. The teachers' union raises their
number to 650, while the ministry of education maintains that they
are less than 200.
The future of the student mobilizations will be judged in the
next few days in view of the student protest rally on Friday.
Scuffles occurred this morning in school buildings under
occupation and between motorists and students who had blocked the
streets stopping the traffic in a show of protest against the
education reform promoted by the government.
[10] 34% OF THE DANES CHOOSE GREECE AS THEIR HOLIDAY DESTINATION
The Danish newspaper "Berlingkse Tidende" in an article under
the headline "Greece is the clear winner" writes that Greece is
the favorite holiday destination for the Danes. The article
mentions that the main attraction for the Danish tourists are the
many Greek islands.
The certainty of the travel agents, who maintain that this
year Greece is the favorite tourist country for the Danes, is
based on a Gallup Institute research that was conducted last
October. According its results, 34% of the Danes will spend their
summer vacations in Greece this year, compared to 28% last year.
The second favorite destination is Spain with 19% followed by
Italy 8%. At the same time, Turkey which last year was regarded as
a very attractive destination this year appears to lose ground as
only half of the tourists who had chosen to spend their summer
vacation there last year are willing to visit the country again
this year (8% compared to 16% in 1998).
[11] PAPASTEFANOU: THE ALLEGATIONS ON THE POLLUTION OF NESTOS
RIVER BY RADIATION ARE SCIENTIFICALLY UNFOUNDED
Nuclear physics professor Kostas Papastefanou characterized
as unclear and scientifically unfounded the recent articles
published by Bulgarian newspapers on the radioactive wastes that
are threatening with pollution the waters of Nestos River. Mr.
Papastefanou points out that the press reports do not include
scientific calculations' results over the radioactive elements
allegedly found in the river, while no mention is made on which
were those radio-active elements and the intensity of their
radiation.
Professor Papastefanou speculated that probably the Bulgarian
side speaks of unfounded risks in the effort to secure more funds
from the EU to finance the storage improvement projects for the
radioactive waste at the village of Elesnica in Bulgaria, where a
uranium mine was in operation.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[12] PASOK DELEGATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Greece's deputy Foreign Minister Yiannos Kranidiotis is
presently heading a delegation of PASOK party officials at an
official visit to the Middle East.
The delegates, among them PASOK central committee member
Theodoros Tsoukatos, also visited the Palestine self-rule areas
where they met with Labor Party leader Ehud Barak, Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat and Jerusalem Patriarch Diodoros. They will
be received by Israel's Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon
Mr. Arafat stressed that he pins great hopes on Greece and
the European Union for the resolution of the Middle East issues.
He also accepted an invitation to attend PASOK's fifth
congress.
[13] ANN HERCUS TO HOLD TALKS WITH ANNAN, COOK OVER CYPRUS ISSUE
The representative of the UN's secretary general Dame Ann
Hercus is to travel to New York tomorrow in order to discuss the
latest developments on the Cyprus issue meet with Mr. Kofi Annan
Prior to New York, Dame Hercus will make a stopover in London
where she will meet with British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook.
According to UNFICYP, the talks will focus on the UN's
efforts to resolve the Cyprus issue.
[14] MONTENEGRO: KLA AMMUNITION CONFISCATED BY AUTHORITIES
Approximately 3,000 pieces of China-made ammunition, destined
for the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), were confiscated by the
Montenegro police near the republic's government borders with
Kosovo.
The ammunition was discovered in a passenger vehicle occupied
by two Albanians from Kosovo.
According to the police's preliminary report, the two are
refugees from Kosovo to Montenegro and are members of a gang that
supplied arms to Kosovo's autonomists.
[15] KOSOVO: JOURNALIST MURDERED, CLOSE ASSOCIATE OF RUGOVA
The director of Kossovo's Information Center, Enver Maliokou,
was slain yesterday by three unknown assassins, according to the
Croat news agency HINA.
The murder occurred in front of the victim's residence and no
one has claimed responsibility as of yet.
Mr. Maliokou was the publisher of the Prishtina daily
"Informatori", a close associate of Ibrahim Rugova (the leader of
Kosovo's Albanians) and a member of Kosovo's Democratic
Association's presidium.
The representative of the observers mission from the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Sandy Blythe
condemned the killing and said that it adds to the tension in
Kosovo, while a representative from Mr. Rugova's office said that
the murder of Maliokou is an attack against the freedom of
expression.
[16] TENSION AGAIN IN KOSOVO
The United Nations Security Council continues the
consultations today on the draft resolution for the immediate
release of the 8 Yugoslav soldiers who have been abducted by
ethnic Albanian separatist rebels in Kosovo.
Tension has escalated in this Serb province after yesterday's
killing of a distinguished member of the Albanian autonomy
movement.
|
