Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 99-05-13
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, May 13, 1999
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] GREEK PREMIER URGES FOR AN END TO THE WAR IN YUGOSLAVIA
[02] HELLENIC PETROLEUM SHOWN TO INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS UNION
[03] BULGARIAN TRADE-TOURISM MINISTER TO VISIT GREECE TODAY
[04] REPPAS: GREECE'S POSITION ON THE YUGOSLAV CRISIS IS CLEAR
[05] KRANIDIOTIS: CYPRUS' EU ACCESSION NEGOTIATIONS ARE ON A GOOD
COURSE
[06] REPPAS ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE US AMBASSADOR
[07] KRANIDIOTIS AND BURNS DISCUSSED THE DEVELOPMENTS IN THE
CYPRUS ISSUE
[08] TRIPARTITE MEETING OF GREECE, BULGARIA AND ROMANIA
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[09] GREEK PRESIDENT ON OFFICIAL VISIT TO ARMENIA, TO MEET WITH PM
[10] GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER TRAVELS TO BULGARIA TOMORROW
[11] PARLIAMENT'S CHINA-JAPAN-KOREA FRIENDSHIP GROUP IN SEOUL
[12] NATO RAIDS A NIGHTLY OCCURRENCE IN YUGOSLAVIA
[13] RUSSIA: LOWER DUMA CALLS FOR YELTSIN'S RESIGNATION
[14] HUNDREDS OF YELTSIN'S OPPONENTS RALLY OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT
[15] GREEK -CZECH INITIATIVE FOR KOSOVO IS IN THE WORKS
[16] THE HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH CALLS ON NATO TO STOP USING CLUSTER
BOMBS IN YUGOSLAVIA
[17] THE LEADER OF A GREEK OPPOSITION PARTY IS IN BELGRADE
[18] CHIRAC - YELTSIN TALKS
[19] 250 SERB SOLDIERS LEFT KOSSOVO THIS MORNING
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] GREEK PREMIER URGES FOR AN END TO THE WAR IN YUGOSLAVIA
Greece's Prime Minister Costas Simitis stressed Greece's wish
to see the war in Yugoslavia stop, during his telephone
conversation with his British counterpart Toni Blair.
Moreover, in his address before a PASOK rally last night, Mr.
Simitis slammed Europe's stance towards the Kosovo crisis, stating
that while the continent has the capacity of being transformed
into an economic giant, it, instead, displayed a lack of will in
the Yugoslav matter by missing out on initiatives. Referring to
the United States, he stressed that the concept of a permanent
superpower is mistaken since it constitutes a factor of world
instability.
[02] HELLENIC PETROLEUM SHOWN TO INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS UNION
Greece's "Hellenic Petroleum" was presented before the
Institutional Investors Union in Athens yesterday by its chairman
E. Tzellas who outlined the company's leading position in the
Greek oil market, where it holds 57% share.
Mr. Tzellas stressed that the Greek firm's Aspropyrgos
refinery ranks sixth among 101 European facilities, while
Thessaloniki's facility is the only one in northern Greece.
The chairman stated that in 1998 the firm posted pre-tax
profits of 40.2 billion
drachmas, a sharp increase from 1997's15.7 billion drachmas,
adding that profits after tax were 27.5 billion drachmas in 1998,
up from 6.3 billion in the previous year, he said.
Hellenic Petroleum, which is listed on the Athens bourse and
the London market, recently signed contracts worth 180 million
dollars with the government of the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia to acquire a majority stake in the country's OKTA
refinery, and build a pipeline linking Thessaloniki and Skopje.
[03] BULGARIAN TRADE-TOURISM MINISTER TO VISIT GREECE TODAY
Bulgaria's Minister of Trade and Tourism Valentin Vasilev is
to visit Greece today, at the invitation of Greece's Minister of
National Economy and Finance Yiannos Papantoniou.
Mr. Vasilev is scheduled to meet with the Minister of
Development Evangelos Venizelos, Macedonia-Thrace Ioannis
Magriotis and various Greek businessmen and investors.
[04] REPPAS: GREECE'S POSITION ON THE YUGOSLAV CRISIS IS CLEAR
Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas stated that the
government's position on the Yugoslav crisis is clear.
Mr. Reppas explained that the war should stop immediately,
while the ground forces operations can not be a solution and an
emphasis should be given to the diplomatic initiatives aimed at
reaching a political solution. He also said that the agreement of
the G8 in Bonn is a basis for negotiations that will lead to a
political solution in Kossovo.
[05] KRANIDIOTIS: CYPRUS' EU ACCESSION NEGOTIATIONS ARE ON A GOOD
COURSE
Cyprus' EU accession negotiations are on a good course as the
problems in the EU association efforts created by certain member-
states have been overcome, according to Greek deputy foreign
minister Yiannos Kranidiotis, who characterized the development as
positive.
Mr. Kranidiotis will visit Cyprus today heading a government
delegation and stated that after efforts made by the Greek side
the reservations that had been expressed by Holland, Italy and
France have been lifted.
Mr. Kranidiotis also expressed the hope that a strong
government will soon be formed in Turkey and will assume its
responsibilities toward the international community and
international law through a reliable dialogue with the Greek
Cypriot side.
[06] REPPAS ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE US AMBASSADOR
Mr. Burns is a US ambassador who is interested in the Greek
armed forces armaments program, underlined Greek government
spokesman Dimitris Reppas when he was asked to comment on the
ambassador's visit to the minister of defense Akis
Tsochatzopoulos.
On the meeting of Mr. Burns with deputy foreign minister
Yiannos Kranidiotis, Mr. Reppas said that they discussed the
crisis in Kosovo and the minister's trip to Cyprus.
Responding to a question on whether the ambassador expressed
discontent regarding last night's statement by prime minister
Kostas Simitis on the role of the United States and president
Clinton, he stated that the prime minister is not being censored
and he has been elected by the Greek people.
[07] KRANIDIOTIS AND BURNS DISCUSSED THE DEVELOPMENTS IN THE
CYPRUS ISSUE
The developments in the Cyprus issue were discussed today by
deputy foreign minister Yiannos Kraniditotis and US ambassador to
Athens Nicholas Burns on the occasion of the G8 willingness to
promote a draft agreement for the solution of the problem.
Mr. Kranidiotis and Mr. Burns also discussed the developments
in Kosovo in view of the EU foreign ministers council meeting
early next week.
[08] TRIPARTITE MEETING OF GREECE, BULGARIA AND ROMANIA
The meeting of Greece's foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou,
Bulgaria's Nadezda Michailova and Romania's Andrei Presu will be
held in Sofia tomorrow.
The political directors of the three Balkan states' foreign
ministries will be held in the Bulgarian capital today. They will
discuss details concerning the joint declaration that will be
issued at the end of the tripartite meeting and will be used as a
basis for the talks of the three foreign ministers.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[09] GREEK PRESIDENT ON OFFICIAL VISIT TO ARMENIA, TO MEET WITH PM
The President of the Hellenic Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos
is presently conducting an official, two-day visit to Armenia, at
the invitation of the republic's leadership.
He will meet with Armenian Premier Armen Darbinyan today, the
last day
of his visit to Armenia.
Yesterday, the President, accompanied by Deputy Foreign
Minister Grigoris Niotis and Deputy National Economy Minister
Alekos Baltas, inaugurated a Greek hall at the Yerevan State
University's library, which will contain books on history and
sciences presented by Greece. Yerevan University's library is the
oldest in Armenia and houses two million books, while it also
features a selection of ancient Greek literature books.
The University also bestowed upon the Greek President the
honorary doctor degree.
Mr. Stephanopoulos met with his Armenian counterpart Robert
Kocharyan, with whom he signed three texts: an agreement on the
avoidance of double taxation; an agreement for mutual assistance
between customs administrations and a protocol for an exchange of
documents on the ratification of a friendship and cooperation
agreement between Greece and Armenia - signed in Athens in June
1997.
The Greek President also visited the Museum and the Monument
for the Armenian Genocide by the Turks in 1915, where he planted a
fir tree "as an expression of honor to the Armenian nation".
[10] GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER TRAVELS TO BULGARIA TOMORROW
Greece's Foreign Minster George Papandreou is to travel to
Sofia tomorrow, where he will hold talks with his Bulgarian and
Romanian counterparts, Nadejda Michailova and Andrei Plesu,
respectively.
Speaking in a press conference held yesterday, Mr. Papandreou
stated that
Greece will continue to work towards a speedy political and
diplomatic solution to the Kosovo crisis through a series of
contacts in Europe, the United States and China.
He reiterated Greece's initiatives for the "day after" the
war, underlining the aim of restructuring the region since it is
integrally connected with Greek national
interests.
The Foreign Minister is scheduled to travel to Paris on
Tuesday, at the invitation of his French counterpart Hubert
Vedrine.
[11] PARLIAMENT'S CHINA-JAPAN-KOREA FRIENDSHIP GROUP IN SEOUL
A delegation of deputies-members of the Hellenic Parliament's
Greece-China-Japan-Korea friendship group, is departing for Seoul
today, on the invitation of the south Korean Parliament.
The Greek deputies, led by the group's chairman Ioannis
Haralabopoulos, will have talks with the country's political
leaders and will also lay a wreath at the memorial erected in
honor of Greek troops who died in the Korean War.
[12] NATO RAIDS A NIGHTLY OCCURRENCE IN YUGOSLAVIA
NATO warplanes pounded Belgrade's outskirts early this
morning, striking Batanica's airport.
According to Yugoslavia's "Studio B" radio station, the Serb
television headquarters in Novi Sad were also hit, along with a
nearby transmitter. At the same time, the United States have
declared their intention to intensify the raids while, according
to the US Pentagon, 660 missions were executed yesterday.
[13] RUSSIA: LOWER DUMA CALLS FOR YELTSIN'S RESIGNATION
Russian deputies embarked on President Boris Yeltsin's
impeachment session today, which could lead to the ouster of
President Boris Yeltsin.
The 450-member State Duma lower house of parliament is to
consider five
charges against President Yeltsin during a debate scheduled to
last three days.
The session is following the President's move to dismiss
Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov from his duties by a decree,
appointing interior minister, Sergei Stepashin, to the post.
[14] HUNDREDS OF YELTSIN'S OPPONENTS RALLY OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT
Hundreds of anti-Boris Yeltsin protesters demonstrated
outside the State Duma in Moscow today, as deputies began historic
impeachment hearings against the Russian president.
As the French news agency AFP reported, police said 700
people had gathered outside the lower house of parliament,
chanting "Yeltsin is a killer" and brandished red Soviet flags at
the entrance to the parliament building.
"Yeltsin resign!" cried some, while others shouted, "no to a
coup d'etat".
"Yeltsin killed nine million people! Who wants more?" chanted some
protesters, a reference to a genocide charge leveled against
Yeltsin.
"The president is completely mad," Eduard Limonov, head of
the extremist National Bolshevik party told AFP.
"Primakov was not the best prime minister, National Bolshevik
party told AFP. "Primakov was not the best prime minister, but he
guaranteed social stability.
"His dismissal is a step towards civil war," he added.
On the nearby Tverskaya Boulevard around 80 pro-Yeltsin
supporters rallied
behind the president following an appeal by the Democratic Choice
party of
ex-premier Yegor Gaidar.
The group attacked the "Duma's madness" in launching the
impeachment
process.
[15] GREEK -CZECH INITIATIVE FOR KOSOVO IS IN THE WORKS
Greece and the Czech Republic are working on a joint
initiative for reaching a political resolution to the Kosovo
crisis, according to an announcement issued by the Czech Foreign
Minister Jan Kavan.
According to the Czech FM, this initiative will be
supplementary to the G-8's decision, by supporting that the
countries which were not directly involved in the air raids
against Yugoslavia will be able to carry out a key role in
organizing the peacekeeping force that would be assigned to the
region.
Meanwhile, Czech President Vaclav Havel believes that a
solution is imminent to the Kosovo crisis, so close in fact that
"it could be resolved in a matter of days, not weeks."
[16] THE HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH CALLS ON NATO TO STOP USING CLUSTER
BOMBS IN YUGOSLAVIA
The human rights organization Human Rights Watch called on
NATO to stop using cluster bombs in Yugoslavia.
The organization's armaments department director stressed
that the cluster bombs put in danger the lives of unarmed
civilians who must be protected in every possible way.
It should be noted that 15 people were killed in the bombing
of the center of Nis last Friday when cluster bombs exploded near
an open air market and the city hospital. A similar tragic
incident occurred in southern Kossovo on April 24 when 5 children
were killed while playing with a unexploded cluster bomb.
[17] THE LEADER OF A GREEK OPPOSITION PARTY IS IN BELGRADE
Leader of the opposition Democratic Social Movement Dimitris
Tsovolas is in Belgrade for talks with the Yugoslav leadership on
the continuing crisis as a result of the NATO bombings against
Yugoslavia.
Mr. Tsovolas is expected to meet today with Yugoslav
president Slobodan Milosevic, Serb president Milan Miludinovic and
Yugoslav foreign minister Zivadin Jovanovic, while he will also
meet with a delegation of the Serb Socialist Party.
Meanwhile, a tripartite delegation of the Journalists
Association of Athens Newspapers, headed by its chairman Nikos
Kiaos, is in Belgrade. The delegation is scheduled to meet with
representatives of the Serb Journalists Association and it will
also visit the buildings that were destroyed by the NATO bombings
in the Yugoslav capital.
[18] CHIRAC - YELTSIN TALKS
Today's talks between French president Jacques Chirac and his
Russian counterpart in Moscow are characterized as difficult after
the position expressed yesterday by Boris Yeltsin that he will
withdraw from the talks on Kosovo if his proposals are ignored.
Russian mediator Victor Chernomyrdin and US assistant
secretary of state Strobe Talbot will have new talks today.
Meanwhile, there is tension in the party congress of the
Greens in Germany which is expected to decide for or against the
continuation of the NATO air attacks against Yugoslavia. The
rejection of the bombings is possible to bring the fall of the
government of chancellor Gerhard Schroder.
[19] 250 SERB SOLDIERS LEFT KOSSOVO THIS MORNING
Two hundred and fifty Serb soldiers left Kossovo at 6:15 am
(local time) this morning, according to the FYROM state news
agency, citing a report by the Bulgarian news agency BTA.
The withdrawal of the force was overseen by general Vladimir
Lazarevic, commander of the Pristina based 3rd Army Corps and for
the first time reporters were allowed to be present during the
departure of the military convoy.
According to BTA, general Lazarevic clarified to reporters
that the pace of the transportation of the Serb soldiers and
military equipment outside the administrative borders of Kossovo
is slow because of the danger due to the continuing NATO bombings.
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