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Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 99-01-20

Macedonian Press Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.


MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, January 20, 1999

SECTIONS

  • [A] NATIONAL NEWS
  • [B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

  • NEWS HEADLINES

    [A] NATIONAL NEWS

  • [01] STUDENTS TO CONTINUE WITH PROTESTS AND ROADBLOCKS
  • [02] DEVELOPMENT MINISTER DEPARTS FOR THE US TODAY
  • [03] ESP CONFERENCE TO BEGIN IN THESSALONIKI ON FRIDAY
  • [04] BALKAN PEACEKEEPING FORCE TRAINING CAMP INAUGURATION TODAY
  • [05] BLACK SEA FIBER OPTICS AGREEMENT SIGNED IN ATHENS TODAY
  • [06] GREECE EARMARKS GRD 15 BILLION TO DEAL WITH MILLENNIUM BUG
  • [07] GREEK PARLIAMENT TO DISCUSS S-300 MISSILES TODAY
  • [08] CONSTRUCTION OF EGNATIA ROAD TO BE DELAYED BY 2-3 YEARS
  • [09] REPPAS: CYPRUS CAN NOT BE A HOSTAGE OF TURKEY
  • [10] NEW STUDENT PROTEST RALLIES TOMORROW
  • [11] BLACK SEA CABLE SYSTEM AGREEMENT
  • [12] REPPAS: THERE IS NO QUESTION OF A GOVERNMENT RESHUFFLE
  • [13] MR. KARAMANLIS CALLS FOR THE RESIGNATION OF THE EDUCATION MINISTER
  • [14] THE ARCHBISHOP OF AMERICA WILL VISIT ATHENS IN FEBRUARY
  • [B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

  • [15] GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER IN BUCHAREST TODAY
  • [16] MILOSEVIC MEETS WITH NATO OFFICIALS, TALKS BEAR NO RESULTS
  • [17] S. AUSTRALIA LABOR PARTY CHIEF TAKES INITIATIVE ON CYPRUS
  • [18] ALBANIAN FM SPEAKS TO MPA ON KOSOVO CRISIS
  • [19] PANGALOS ATTENDS "RIGAS FEREOS" BOOK PRESENTATION IN SOFIA
  • [20] PANGALOS' CONTACTS IN BUCHAREST
  • [21] THE NATO AMBASSADORS MEET IN BRUSSELS ON KOSOVO
  • [22] FATOS NANO RESIGNED FROM THE ALBANIAN SOCIALIST PARTY LEADERSHIP

  • NEWS IN DETAIL

    [A] NATIONAL NEWS

    [01] STUDENTS TO CONTINUE WITH PROTESTS AND ROADBLOCKS

    Students throughout Greece are continuing their mobilizations in protest to the education reforms, by holding another round of rallies tomorrow in Thessaloniki, Athens and other cities throughout the country. Teachers have joined the protests as their unions have given them the go-ahead to hold a three-hour work stoppage tomorrow and a 24-hour strike on Monday.

    Episodes erupted during yesterday's student rally in Athens, where one policeman was injured and two other individuals were arrested.

    [02] DEVELOPMENT MINISTER DEPARTS FOR THE US TODAY

    The Minister of Development Vaso Papandreou is to embark on an official, eight-day visit to the United States today.

    During her stay in the US, Ms. Papandreou will have a series of meetings and contacts with US government officials and Greek-American leaders, among them the US Secretary of Energy, assistant Secretary of State, and others.

    She will give an interview to CNN will visit Houston's energy installations.

    On the 25th of January she will attend a luncheon given in her honor by the Foreign Policy Association, at Manhattan's Yale Club. Ms. Papandreou will also be received by the Archbishop of America Spyridon.

    [03] ESP CONFERENCE TO BEGIN IN THESSALONIKI ON FRIDAY

    The "European Socialist Party" is to hold a three-day conference concerning southeastern Europe on Friday in Thessaloniki, featuring the participation of the Party's leader and German Defense Minister Rudolph Scharping, the President of the European Parliament's Socialists Pauline Green and other Socialist leaders from European and Balkan countries.

    Greece's Defense and Foreign Ministers, Akis Tsochatzopoulos and Theodoros Pangalos respectively, will also be present, as well as the ruling PASOK party's central committee secretary Kostas Skandalides.

    [04] BALKAN PEACEKEEPING FORCE TRAINING CAMP INAUGURATION TODAY

    The Balkan Peacekeeping Force's training camp, with headquarters in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, is to be inaugurated today near northern Greece's city of Kilkis.

    The ceremony will be chaired by Defense Minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos and will be attended by defense ministers, undersecretaries and chiefs of staffs from Balkan countries and the former Soviet bloc.

    [05] BLACK SEA FIBER OPTICS AGREEMENT SIGNED IN ATHENS TODAY

    An agreement for the establishment of a fiber optics telecommunications system that will link seven countries in the Black Sea region, was signed today in Athens.

    The undersea system is to cost USD 51 million and will link Greece, Armenia, Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine, Cyprus and Slovenia.

    The signing ceremony was attended by representatives of Greece's Transportation and Communications Ministry and the Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE).

    [06] GREECE EARMARKS GRD 15 BILLION TO DEAL WITH MILLENNIUM BUG

    The Minister of the Interior Alekos Papadopoulos stated that the Greek government will allocate approximately 15 billion drachmas in order to deal with the computer glitch known as "millennium bug".

    The bug will cause many computers to fail at the onset of the upcoming year, by reading the date 2000 as 1900. This is caused by the fact that computer software programmers have abbreviated each year to the two final digits in order to save computer memory. Understandably, this is certain to wreck havoc on financial institutions, as it will affect their transactions as well as their archives.

    Mr. Papadopoulos made the announcement after having chaired a high-ranking meeting attended by the ministers of defense, national economy, development and transport and communications, as well as officials from the sectors of industry, banking, and other affected sectors.

    A series of such meetings are being held on a monthly basis in order to coordinate work on the issue between ministries, government services and the private sector.

    [07] GREEK PARLIAMENT TO DISCUSS S-300 MISSILES TODAY

    The Hellenic Parliament is to hold another discussion on the cancellation of the S-300 missile system's deployment on Cyprus, during today's session, after two relevant questions were tabled by opposition deputies.

    During last night's session, PASOK deputy Lefteris Verivakis also tabled a question regarding the validity of a report published in the New York Greek-language "Proini" daily, which claims that the Cyprus government has held negotiations over the deployment of the missiles in Egypt.

    [08] CONSTRUCTION OF EGNATIA ROAD TO BE DELAYED BY 2-3 YEARS

    The construction of the Egnatia Road project is to be delayed by two-to-three years, due to geotechnical hurdles, according to the secretary-general of the Ministry of the Environment, Public Works and city Planning Yiannis Chrysikopoulos.

    Mr. Chrysikopoulos, addressing the Parliament's Transparency Committee stated that the on-going project's delays concern the sector of Epirus and added that foreign experts have been invited to provide assistance.

    [09] REPPAS: CYPRUS CAN NOT BE A HOSTAGE OF TURKEY

    Cyprus' EU accession course is completely dissociated from its political problem, stated Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas.

    Cyprus can not be a hostage of Turkey, stressed Mr. Reppas and reminded that Greece has made it known that the EU enlargement will proceed only if Cyprus is included.

    [10] NEW STUDENT PROTEST RALLIES TOMORROW

    New incidents were recorded today between motorists and students, who continue to block main streets in Athens. Big problems were created again today in transportation as a result of the street blockades.

    Meanwhile, new protest rallies will be held in Thessaloniki, Athens and other big cities across the country tomorrow, while the secondary education teachers will be on a 24hour strike.

    The Athens prosecutor brought charges against two youngsters who were arrested in the violent incidents that took place last night in Athens.

    [11] BLACK SEA CABLE SYSTEM AGREEMENT

    The Black Sea countries will have a fibre optics cable system worth 51 million US dollars based on the agreement signed today.

    The agreement was signed in Athens this morning by representatives of the Greek tele-communications Organization (OTE) and other six Balkan and Black Sea tele-communications organizations.

    The OTE participation in the project is 35%, which corresponds to 18 million US dollars, while the underwater cable system will link Varna, Odessa, Novorosisk, Tblisi and Georgia.

    In the project participate Greece, Armenia, Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine, Cyprus and Slovenia.

    [12] REPPAS: THERE IS NO QUESTION OF A GOVERNMENT RESHUFFLE

    Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas stated that there is no question of a government reshuffle, categorically denying the scenarios on the removal of education minister Gerasimos Arsenis.

    When asked to comment on the situation in the sector of education, Mr. Reppas stressed that the minister of education handles the issues of his responsibility responsibly and denied the scenarios on a possible government reshuffle, stressing that there is no such question.

    [13] MR. KARAMANLIS CALLS FOR THE RESIGNATION OF THE EDUCATION MINISTER

    Right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy leader Kostas Karamanlis called for the resignation of education minister Gerasimos Arsenis as the only way to defuse the tension in the sector of education, adding that in case Mr. Arsenis chooses not to resign the prime minister has to proceed with his immediate replacement.

    Mr. Karamanlis stated that the situation in the sector of education has crossed the limits and issued an appeal to the students to return to their classes, while he called on the government to give way to the students' demands.

    The leader of New Democracy said that the "unacceptable examination system" must be "frozen" and that a broad based dialogue should start in accordance with the draft law proposed by his party.

    [14] THE ARCHBISHOP OF AMERICA WILL VISIT ATHENS IN FEBRUARY

    Archbishop Spiridon of America accepted the invitation of the Greek government to formally visit Greece in the second week of February.

    According to a report published by the New York based Greek- American newspaper "Proini", even though no details have been made known, the visit will take place on February 8-10.

    The Archbishop of America will meet with president Kostis Stephanopoulos, prime minister Kostas Simitis, foreign minister Theodoros Pangalos and minister of education Gerasimos Arsenis. He will also meet with Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All of Greece.

    Archbishop Spiridon of America will be accompanied by a large delegation and according to information, he will invite Archbishop Christodoulos to visit the United States.

    [B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

    [15] GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER IN BUCHAREST TODAY

    Greece's Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos is presently on an official visit to Bucharest where he will have successive meetings with his Romanian counterpart, the country's Premier and the President Emil Constantinescu, as well as with the Orthodox Patriarch of Romania and the leader of the main opposition party Mr. Iliescu.

    [16] MILOSEVIC MEETS WITH NATO OFFICIALS, TALKS BEAR NO RESULTS

    US State Department spokesperson James Rubin has stated that the contacts held between NATO officials and the President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosevic were not encouraging.

    Mr. Milosevic stated that no amount of external pressure can end his country's right to handle terrorism.

    In Tirana meanwhile, the Albanian Parliament approved a resolution which stressed the need to support the Albanian- speaking military and political leaders.

    [17] S. AUSTRALIA LABOR PARTY CHIEF TAKES INITIATIVE ON CYPRUS

    The leader of South Australia's Labor Party Mike Rann has proposed that the Cyprus problem should be the keynote issue at this year's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Cape Town, South Africa.

    Mr. Rann further proposed that the CHOGM appoint an Eminent Persons Commission on Cyprus, composed of former Commonwealth Prime Ministers and Heads of State, as a means to help resolve the Cyprus issue.

    The Australian parliamentarian recently concluded an official visit to Cyprus, after having met with the US State Department's Special coordinator for Cyprus Thomas Miller and Britain's Special Envoy Sir David Hannay.

    [18] ALBANIAN FM SPEAKS TO MPA ON KOSOVO CRISIS

    Albania's Foreign Minister Pascal Milo stated that "there is no other option but to share our future with Kosovo's Albanians", during a meeting held with Strasbourg-based corespondents following his talks with Council of Europe's secretary-general Daniel Tarschys.

    Responding to a question posed by the Macedonian Press Agency, if he believes that there is still hope to achieve an agreement regarding Prishtina's future, Mr. Milo stated that "the Albanian government has been and still is in favor of searching for a path that will lead to a peaceful resolution," albeit adding that the situation has changed in the recent days.

    He further told the MPA that the Albanian government believes that the best solution would be NATO's intervention, as "we do not believe that (FRY's) President Milosevic truly has the will to speak of a political resolution, while we also have the Bosnia experience and know what that represents."

    [19] PANGALOS ATTENDS "RIGAS FEREOS" BOOK PRESENTATION IN SOFIA

    Prior to his departure for Romania, Greece's Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos attended a "Rigas Fereos" book presentation in Sofia's National Library.

    In his address during the book's presentation, a Bulgarian edition of the Greek historical figure's "The Revolutionaries", Mr. Pangalos thanked the organizers, such as the scientific study committee chaired by Dimitris Karabelopoulos and the Bulgarian publishing house "Ivan Vazov".

    The Greek FM stressed that the book is "quite a remarkable undertaking which (will also proved to be) quite useful."

    In turn, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nadejda Michailova stressed that "there is something symbolic in the fact that Mr. Pangalos' visit coincided with the presentation of Rigas Fereos' book in Sofia." . She further added that "in a sense it is a sort of a political promise, to enable the two countries to discover all those points which bring them together," concluding that the two countries need to manage to work each other "in order to transform the Balkans into a zone of stability, peace and prosperity."

    [20] PANGALOS' CONTACTS IN BUCHAREST

    Greek foreign minister Theodoros Pangalos met in Bucharest with his Romanian counterpart Andrei Plesu. In the meeting were discussed issues concerning the further development of the Greek business activities in Romania.

    Mr. Plesu characterized the talks as very important and at the same time he said that relations between Greece and Romania are excellent, while Mr. Pangalos also said that the talks were very important, saying at the same time that relations between Greece and Romania are excellent.

    The Greek foreign minister characterized as positive development the decision by Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic to appoint Vuk Draskovic to the position of the vice-president of the Serb government, responsible for international relations.

    In a press conference in Bucharest, Mr. Plesu stated that the way Mr. Milosevic acts in the last few days does not contribute to the smooth development of the situation in Kossovo. Mr. Pangalos said on the issue, that the south-eastern European countries approached the problem in Kossovo as well as, the special position that Serbia has with great understanding.

    Mr. Pangalos said that the SE European countries tried to reduce the isolation of Yugoslavia for reasons of principle and interest and that when the time came for the lifting of the measures against Yugoslavia the unacceptable stance of the Serb government did not help toward this development. He said that the issue of human rights is not an internal affair for any country and the time when someone could slaughter the population of a country for domestic reasons has passed, adding that now all those who do not respect the human life are accountable to the international community.

    The Romanian foreign minister stated that Greek president Kostis Stephanopoulos will visit Romania and that Romanian prime minister Mr. Vasiliev will visit Greece, while he referred specifically to Greece's investments in Romania such as the investment of ROM-TELECOM of 670 million US dollars which is one of the largest. Mr. Plesu said that the economic transactions between Greece and Romania can develop further this year and called on Greece to contribute to the reform that takes place in Romania.

    The two ministers also discussed cultural issues and exchanged views on the prospect for the establishment of a joint economic committee and the legal framework on which it will be based.

    They also discussed regional cooperation and the cooperation in the Black Sea, while they both said that there is an idea for cooperation between the European Union and the Black Sea region. Referring to the issue, Mr. Plesu said that the rest of the world should realize that the region is not just a region of disputes but a region of peace.

    Mr. Pangalos spoke of the potential for the further promotion of economic cooperation between the two countries and added that the economic transactions in 1999 will reach the sum of 500 million US dollars.

    The Greek foreign minister added that Greece will help Romania to become a member of the European Union and NATO and pointed out that the regional cooperation will help toward the European orientation of the peoples living in this area.

    Finally, referring to the peace-keeping force that was recently created in the Balkans, Mr. Pangalos said that it will intervene whenever it is necessary to solve certain problems, adding that it is much more preferable the region's problems to be solved by the countries of the region instead by NATO and the United States.

    [21] THE NATO AMBASSADORS MEET IN BRUSSELS ON KOSOVO

    The ambassadors of the member-states of NATO meet in Brussels to decide on the stance the alliance will adopt after Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic's decision to refuse to withdraw the Serb forces from Kossovo.

    The NATO officials will examine the report of the two NATO generals who had talks with Milosevic in Belgrade.

    [22] FATOS NANO RESIGNED FROM THE ALBANIAN SOCIALIST PARTY LEADERSHIP

    Former Albanian prime minister Fatos Nano announced his resignation from the leadership of the Albanian Socialist Party. The announcement was made during the party's general administrative council meeting that was held today.

    Mr. Nano launched a verbal attack against Albanian prime minister Pandeli Majko and his government and he also called for an extraordinary Socialist Party congress causing the strong reaction of the majority of the general administrative council members.

    Responding to a MPA question, on whether he intends to form a new political party, he avoided to give a clear answer saying that this is an old idea but he does not want to be detrimental to state money by putting it into effect.


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