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Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 99-01-23Macedonian Press Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.Last Update: 23:27 GMT+2SECTIONS
NEWS HEADLINES[A] GREECE[B] BALKANSNEWS IN DETAIL[A] GREECE[01] THE EUROPEAN SOCIALIST PARTY CONFERENCE CONTINUES IN THESSALONIKIWeb Posted: 15:57 GMT+2Thessaloniki, 23/01/1999 (MPA) The European Socialist Party conference continues in Thessaloniki with the message of foreign minister Theodoros Pangalos that was read before the participants and the speeches of undersecretary of foreign affairs Yiannos Kranidiotis and other European Socialist Party members.Yesterday, minister of defense Akis Tsochatzopoulos stated that if the efforts for a peaceful solution in Kossovo do not succeed there will be extensive clashes in March. German minister of defense and chairman of the European Socialist Party Rudolf Scharping launched an attack against the FRY president Slobodan Milosevic characterizing him a nationalist and a dictator. [02] ARSENIS WILL MEET WITH SECONDARY EDUCATION STUDENTSWeb Posted: 15:57 GMT+2Athens, 23/01/1999 (MPA) Minister of education Gerasimos Arsenis will meet today with secondary education students in an effort to defuse the crisis. In the meetings will not participate the school building occupation coordinating body of the students.Meanwhile, they announced that they will hold a new protest rally on Thursday and they will continue the unannounced street blockades. The teachers' union suggests a new 48hour strike to take place on January 28 and 29 in addition to the 24hour strike already announced for January 25. A 4hour work stoppage in the public and private sector was announced by the General Confederation of Labor to be held on Thursday in a show of solidarity to the students. [03] BULGARIA'S SOCIAL-DEMOCRATIC PARTIES AIM AT A UNITED FRONTWeb Posted: 15:57 GMT+2Thessaloniki, 23/01/1999 (MPA) The representatives of the Bulgarian opposition Social-democratic parties in statements they made to MPA they supported the development of relations with the European Socialist Party and the Greek governing socialist party of PASOK.Former Bulgarian foreign minister Georgi Pirinski stated on the visit of Greek foreign minister Theodoros Pangalos to Sofia that it was held at a time when new prospects were opened for the Greek-Bulgarian relations and the proposals that were examined were timely and significant. Socialist parliament deputy Nikolai Kamov stressed that Bulgaria has an interest in the development of its relations with neighboring countries and will consider seriously the Greek initiative for the establishment of a 25 kilometer zone of free movement across the borders. "Euro-Left" secretary Mr. Bokov expressed the concern of his party over the developments in former Yugoslavia and predicted that a negative turn of events would affect all the neighboring countries namely, Albania, FYROM, Bulgaria and even Greece at least with the wave of refugees that will be created. [04] GAPO APOSTOLI: MILOSEVIC PROLONGS THE CRISIS IN KOSOVOWeb Posted: 15:57 GMT+2Thessaloniki, 23/01/1999 (MPA) Belgrade does not want the crisis in Kossovo to defuse but on the contrary wants to preserve the tension stated Gapo Apostoli, representative of the Albanian Social-democratic party in the 2nd European Socialist Party Conference in Thessaloniki.He said that there are no pre-conditions in Kossovo that would allow the opening of a dialogue and based on the overall policy followed by Milosevic the international community should not have any illusions that Belgrade will change its stance. He also pointed out that all the political parties in Albania will back the ethnic Albanians in Kossovo in their effort to win their self-determination without changing the existing borders. The representative of the Serb Civic Alliance party appeared pessimistic regarding the easing of the crisis and conveying the views of Zivorad Kovasevic he stressed that the crisis is at a "boiling point" and this stage is possibly irreversible. He said that Milosevic uses the crisis in Kossovo to excite the nationalist feelings of the Serbs for his own personal gain, while he also accused the Kossovo Liberation Army stating that it has its own share of responsibility in the crisis. He did not rule out the likelihood for the crisis to hurt the territorial integrity of FYROM pointing out that there is a high risk for the destabilization of the region with very unfavorable consequences even for the united Europe. He expressed the belief that the air strikes of the allies will simply add to the problem creating a vicious circle of chain reactions. From his side, Nebojca Kovic of the Serb Democratic Alternative Party stressed that today's situation in the Balkans shows a reawakening of old animosities and a revival of the "powder-keg". On the full participation of the Balkan states in the European Union, Mr. Kovic said that this is still a distant vision. Nano Ruzin of FYROM's Social-democratic Union stated that a political solution should be found in Kossovo and added that his party insists in conditional autonomy with terms that will satisfy both sides in the conflict, stressing that his party is opposed to independence because in such a case there will be political reactions. Cypriot Socialist Party vice-president Yiannakis Omirou referred to the issue of Kossovo and said that there should be continuous and intense negotiations between the Serb authorities and the ethnic Albanians in order for the crisis to be defused. [05] KRANIDIOTIS: ONLY THROUGH A POLITICAL DIALOGUE THERE WILL BE A SOLUTION IN KOSOVOWeb Posted: 15:57 GMT+2Thessaloniki, 23/01/1999 (MPA) Greece backs the political dialogue between the two sides in Kossovo in order to reach a peaceful solution, said undersecretary of foreign affairs Yiannos Kranidiotis speaking in the 2nd European Socialist Party Conference held in Thessaloniki.The ethnic Albanians should receive an extensive autonomy within the borders of Yugoslavia and each side should display self-restraint and a spirit of cooperation. Mr. Kranidiotis said that violence and the defiance of international law do not lead to solutions but to further crises and after the recent incidents in Racak the compliance with the UN resolutions is imperative. He also stressed that the undertaking of further diplomatic initiatives is necessary and that within their framework Greece is willing to play a role. [06] PAPANDREOU STATEMENTS ON KOSOVOWeb Posted: 15:57 GMT+2Thessaloniki, 23/01/1999 (MPA) Greek deputy foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou stated on the sidelines of the 2nd European Socialist Party conference that the efforts of the international community for a solution in Kossovo focus on the opening of a dialogue between the Serbs and the ethnic Albanians.Mr. Papandreou expressed the belief that it is absolutely necessary to have a cease fire through which there will be a dialogue, stressing that the outcome of the issue will be decisive for the overall developments in the region. He also stressed that with the solution of the problem the road opens for all the Balkan peoples to become members of the European Union. He also referred to the need for the strengthening of the democratic institutions and the safeguarding of the freedom of the mass media as well as the autonomy of the universities in Serbia. [B] BALKANS[07] EFFORTS FOR A POLITICAL SOLUTION IN KOSOVOWeb Posted: 15:57 GMT+2Belgrade, 23/01/1999 (MPA) UN secretary general Kofi Annan issued an appeal to the international community to continue the pressures on FRY president Slobodan Milosevic to put an end to the tension in Kossovo.The representatives of the contact group who met in London yesterday agreed to launch a new campaign for a solution in the region and called on Mr. Milosevic to allow the UN war crimes representatives to open an investigation on the Racak massacre. Complete archives of the Macedonian Press Agency bulletins are available on the MPA Home Page at http://www.mpa.gr/ and on the U.S. mirror at http://www.hri.org/MPA/Macedonian Press Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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