Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 99-06-18
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, June 18, 1999
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN: KLA SHOULD BE DISARMED AT ONCE
[02] THERE ARE NO DIOXIN-INFECTED FOODS IN GREECE, SAYS MINISTER
[03] GREEK-BULGARIAN MILITARY COOPERATION ACCORD RATIFIED
[04] NETHERLANDS EMBASSY: "COW AIDS" REPORTS ARE INCORRECT
[05] NEW RECORD OF "VISITS" FOR THE MPA WEB SITE ON THE INTERNET
[06] ANOTHER GROUP OF KOSSOVO REFUGEES WILL LEAVE FOR AUSTRALIA
VIA THESSALONIKI
[07] FREE GREEK LANGUAGE LESSONS ON THE INTERNET OFFERED BY THE
GREEK LANGUAGE ACADEMY OF VUPERTHAL
[08] BRITISH SOLDIERS ARRIVED IN THESSALONIKI ON THEIR WAY TO
KOSOVO
[09] REPPAS: GREECE WILL NOT ACCEPT INSINUATIONS AND DOUBTS ON THE
ISSUE OF TERRORISM
[10] THERE IS NO PROBLEM WITH THE FOODS IN THE GREEK MARKET
[11] ISTANBUL'S KOC UNIVERSITY OFFERS SCHOLARSHIP TO GREEKS
[12] GREEK MAIN OPPOSITION LEADER TRAVELS TO CYPRUS, FRANCE
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[13] KOSOVO WILL BE AT EPICENTER OF G8 TALKS TODAY
[14] EU TO SHIPOWNERS: DUMP WASTE MATERIAL AT PORTS, NOT AT SEA
[15] UN IS ADAMANT: KLA MUST LAY DOWN ITS ARMS IMMEDIATELY
[16] SERB REFUGEES FROM KOSOVO INUNDATE CENTRAL TOWNS
[17] US DIPLOMAT MEETS WITH OPPOSITION PARTY LEADERS IN F.R.Y.
[18] GREEK FM GIVES JOINT INTERVIEW WITH BRITISH COUNTERPART
[19] BELGRADE AIRPORT BEGINS OPERATING TODAY
[20] GREECE WAS SERBIA'S BEST FRIEND DURING THE NATO BOMBING
[21] THE US AND RUSSIA ARE CLOSER TO AN AGREEMENT ON KOSOVO
[22] ARMED CLASHES BETWEEN RUSSIAN SOLDIERS AND KLA REBELS AT THE
AIRPORT OF PRISTINA
[23] THE ALBANIANS FORCED THE UROSEVAC SERBS TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES,
ACCORDING TO BELGRADE
[24] ABOUT 30.000 KOSSOVO REFUGEES HAVE RETURNED TO THEIR HOMES
FROM ALBANIA
[25] A GREEK WOMAN WAS BRUTALLY MURDERED IN BERLIN
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN: KLA SHOULD BE DISARMED AT ONCE
Government spokesperson Dimitris Reppas stated last night
that the Kosovo Liberation Army should be disarmed immediately.
Mr. Reppas stated that the Greek contingent assigned to the
peacekeeping force in Kosovo is taking all the necessary measures
to protect itself from any KLA actions.
[02] THERE ARE NO DIOXIN-INFECTED FOODS IN GREECE, SAYS MINISTER
Greece's Agriculture Minister George Anomerites stressed
yesterday that the state authorities have began destroying the
confiscated fresh products imported from Belgium and reiterated
that there is no dioxin-related problem in the Greek market,
stressing that the ban on Belgian -product imports continues to be
enforced.
Meanwhile, the Consumers General Secretary of the Ministry of
Development has admitted that no sample of suspect Belgian food
has been forwarded yet to other countries for inspection. The
Ministry's official explained that the remaining samples will soon
be forwarded to labs for analysis and attributed the delays to the
fact that the authorities want to collect samples from all stages
of production.
At the same time, the chairman of Greece's Consumers
Institute stressed that Greeks cannot consume anything without
fear.
[03] GREEK-BULGARIAN MILITARY COOPERATION ACCORD RATIFIED
Bulgaria's cabinet has ratified a military and technical
cooperation accord with Greece, which was recently signed in Sofia
between the Greek undersecretary of defense Dimitris Apostolakis
and his Bulgarian counterpart Velizar Salamanov.
The said accord calls for the joint production and updating
of armaments and facilities, as well as the exchange of
technology.
[04] NETHERLANDS EMBASSY: "COW AIDS" REPORTS ARE INCORRECT
The Netherlands embassy in Athens stated yesterday that the
country's food exports are completely safe for consumers and that
press reports alleging "cow AIDS" among Dutch cattle were
incorrect and unjustified.
Dutch ambassador Paul Brouwer stated that the Netherlands'
animal health service on Wednesday had said that no instances of
Bovine Infectious Virus (BIV) – referred to in some media reports
as "cow AIDS" -- had been reported but that it had been confused
with an outbreak of Bovine Virus Diarrhoea (BVD) - which is not
communicable to humans - in 12 Dutch farms, caused by a
contaminated batch of vaccine.
"There has never been a case of BIV in the Netherlands, never
now or in the past," the Dutch envoy said.
[05] NEW RECORD OF "VISITS" FOR THE MPA WEB SITE ON THE INTERNET
The Macedonian Press Agency web site received a record number
of calls in a 10-day period before and after the Euro-parliament
elections.
Specifically, from Sunday, June 6 until Thursday, June 17
there were 682.192 visits made to the MPA server, while the
biggest increase was recorded on the day after the elections
namely, on Monday, June 14 when the number of calls increased by
52.96% compared to the previous Monday, June 7 reaching 86.425
calls.
The number of calls on Sunday, June 13 also showed an
increase by 51.63% and the visits recorded were 47.619.
It is believed that based on the existing facts the overall
number of calls to the MPA web site on the Internet will exceed
the 1.100.000 mark in the month of June.
[06] ANOTHER GROUP OF KOSSOVO REFUGEES WILL LEAVE FOR AUSTRALIA
VIA THESSALONIKI
A group of about 400 Kossovo refugees will leave for
Australia tomorrow from Thessaloniki's Macedonia Airport. The head
of the International Organization of Immigration in Greece pointed
out that the refugees will come from the camps of Braza and
Stankovic.
Responding to the question why the refugees are being sent to
Australia now that the war has ended, the representative of the
international organization stated that those individuals are
psychologically prepared to go to Australia and that themselves
have requested this because they have relatives there, while at
the same time he stressed that they are free to return to their
country whenever they wish to or stay in the country where they
will be sent.
[07] FREE GREEK LANGUAGE LESSONS ON THE INTERNET OFFERED BY THE
GREEK LANGUAGE ACADEMY OF VUPERTHAL
The Greek Language and Culture Academy of Vuperthal in
Germany will offer free Greek language lessons on the Internet
starting in September. The lessons will be renewed every week and
will be directed to people from all over the world who have access
to the Internet and are interested in learning the Greek language
.
The above were stated by Greek Language and Culture Academy
chairman head priest Charalambos Stephanopoulos, who also
underlined that 17.500 words in the German language are based on
the Greek language.
Mr. Stephanopoulos stated that the academy develops many
different kinds of activities in the sectors of Greek language
teaching and materializes a total of 50 programs. He said
characteristically that it plans to promote Greek language
programs for tourist hotels in Greece where tourists will have the
opportunity to learn the language while on vacation in the
country.
[08] BRITISH SOLDIERS ARRIVED IN THESSALONIKI ON THEIR WAY TO
KOSOVO
Intense mobility is being observed at the airport and port of
Thessaloniki where the transportation of military units and
supplies from NATO member states for the needs of the peacekeeping
force in Kosovo continues.
A military aircraft that landed at Thessaloniki's Macedonia
Airport carried 156 British soldiers, while 350 French and Dutch
marines are expected to arrive at the airport by this evening.
Also, a French ship brought 60 military vehicles of different
types and 10 containers with supplies to the port of Thessaloniki.
A British ship is expected to sail into port this afternoon while
3 French ships are expected tomorrow.
[09] REPPAS: GREECE WILL NOT ACCEPT INSINUATIONS AND DOUBTS ON THE
ISSUE OF TERRORISM
Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas reacted strongly
to the statements made by US State Department spokesman James
Foley, who alleged that US agencies have information on the
training of Kurdish terrorists in Greece.
Mr. Reppas said that Greece has a firm position toward
terrorism and makes efforts to counter the phenomenon in
cooperation with other countries, adding that it rejects any
insinuations and doubts over the effectiveness of its efforts. He
also said that periodically false accusations have been made
intentionally targeting Greece.
Foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou will raise the issue that
has been created because of the statements made by Mr. Foley in
the meeting he will have in Brussels with US Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright. Mr. Reppas reiterated the proposal made by the
Greek foreign minister for the creation of a coordinating body to
counter terrorism in the Balkans.
[10] THERE IS NO PROBLEM WITH THE FOODS IN THE GREEK MARKET
A broad-based meeting is being held in the ministry of
development on the issue of the dioxin contaminated food
products, while the inspections in the market continue. The
authorities underline that there is no problem with the foods in
the Greek market and scientists suggest that the people should
prefer the Mediterranean diet.
Increased demand for Greek foods is being observed in the
European markets. Minister of agriculture Giorgos Anomeritis
reiterated that there is no problem with dioxin contaminated foods
in the Greek market and stressed that the ban in the import and
distribution of Belgian products is still in effect.
[11] ISTANBUL'S KOC UNIVERSITY OFFERS SCHOLARSHIP TO GREEKS
Istanbul's Koc University is offering a full-expense paid
scholarship to a Greek graduate student for its two-year MBA
program
The student evaluation process has been assigned to the
Athens Laboratory of Business Administration (ALBA).
Koc University is an English language, private, non-profit
institution with a highly-selective admission process. It has a
number of graduates from Italy, United Kingdom, France and the
United States.
The scholarship is reciprocal to ALBA's initiative to offer
the annual Pavlos Yiannas scholarship, to a candidate preferably
from turkey.
Prospective candidates for the Koc U. Scholarship should
address ALBA, at (01) 8964531-8, Ms. Danae Salepoula,
Communications & Corporate Relations Director.
[12] GREEK MAIN OPPOSITION LEADER TRAVELS TO CYPRUS, FRANCE
The President of Greece's main opposition party, New
Democracy's Costas Karamanlis is to travel to Cyprus today for the
Pan-Cypriot Congress of the Democratic Rally.
Mr. Karamanlis will be received by the President of the
Republic of Cyprus Glafcos Clerides in Nicosia tomorrow.
Following his stay in Cyprus, Mr. Karamanlis will travel to
France where he will remain until June 23 for the European
Democratic Union summit conference.
On the sidelines of the conference, Mr. Karamanlis will meet
with leaders of Christian-Democrat and Liberal parties, while he
might also meet with French President Jacques Chirac.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[13] KOSOVO WILL BE AT EPICENTER OF G8 TALKS TODAY
The developments in Kosovo are expected to be the main
subject to the discussed during today's summit of the world's
seven most industrialized nations plus Russia (G8), to be held in
Cologne, Germany.
The summit is being held under the shadows that emerged from
the US-Russia disagreement regarding the latter's role in the
Kosovo peacekeeping force.
Diplomatic efforts are presently under way to resolve the
matter, with separate meetings being held between Russian Defense
Minister Igor Seregeyev and his US counterpart William Cohen, and
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and US Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright.
[14] EU TO SHIPOWNERS: DUMP WASTE MATERIAL AT PORTS, NOT AT SEA
The European Union has approved an accord aimed at
encouraging shipowners to dump waste material in EU ports rather
than at sea.
The text, approved by the EU's 15 transport ministers, calls
for each EU port to be outfitted with the necessary equipment for
recuperating ships' waste. The equipment will be financed by a tax
paid by the shipowners.
Greece's Minster of Merchant Marine Stavros Soumakis has
welcomed the accord, expressing his satisfaction that it includes
Greece's suggestions.
The new regulation will apply to all types of vessel -- cargo
ships, passenger liners, fishing boats and leisure craft -- which
will have to declare the quantity and type of waste they are
carrying when they dock.
[15] UN IS ADAMANT: KLA MUST LAY DOWN ITS ARMS IMMEDIATELY
The Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) must lay down arms as soon
as possible under the resolution of the United Nations Security
Council, U.N. Undersecretary General Louise Frechette stated
yesterday, stressing that the U.N. mission in Kosovo is determined
to achieve the fulfillment of all clauses of the resolution,
including the one on the KLA disarmament.
The U.N. Secretariat held a briefing at the Security Council
yesterday on the request of the Council members in order to
comment on the situation in Kosovo.
[16] SERB REFUGEES FROM KOSOVO INUNDATE CENTRAL TOWNS
Serb refugees from Kosovo have inundated the central Serbian
towns of Kragujevac and Kraljevo, with many spending the night
outdoors, press reports quoted local authorities as saying.
As the French news agency AFP has reported Radoslac Jovic,
the mayor of Kraljevo -a town of 35,000 inhabitants, 95 miles
south of Belgrade - said that "if the influx continues over the
next few days Kraljevo will no longer be able to accept them".
Mr. Jovic said some 10,000 refugees from Kosovo were currently in
his town.
Meanwhile another 400 arrived in Kragujevac, 120 kilometers
south of Belgrade, joining 3,000 already there, the municipal
commission for refugees told the Beta news agency.
A town hall official, Vesna Pajevic, said Kragujevac had only
two days' supplies of food left, and a humanitarian disaster
threatened.
[17] US DIPLOMAT MEETS WITH OPPOSITION PARTY LEADERS IN F.R.Y.
US special Balkans envoy Robert Gelbard has met with leaders
of the opposition to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, a US
official stated yesterday.
"Gelbard did meet with opposition leaders" over the weekend
in a bid to advance efforts at peaceful regime change in
Yugoslavia, said the official, who requested anonymity.
As the French news agency AFP reported, the official said
that "we have been supporting an effort for quite some time to
advance democracy in Yugoslavia," pointing to funding for
independent media and other institutions aimed at increasing
pluralism in Yugoslavia.
The Serb daily "Vecernie Novosti" referred to Mr. Gelbard's
meetings, commenting that they constitute the US diplomat's
mission aimed at overthrowing the Yugoslav president.
According to the paper, Mr. Gelbard's allies in this new
missions will be the President of Montenegro Milo Jukanovic and
smaller opposition parties in Serbia.
US President Bill Clinton in a televised speech last week
warned the Yugoslav people that "as long as your nation is ruled
by an indicted war criminal," meaning Milosevic, "we will provide
no support for the reconstruction of Serbia."
[18] GREEK FM GIVES JOINT INTERVIEW WITH BRITISH COUNTERPART
Greece's role and input in the reconstruction of the Balkans
after the war, Greek-Turkish relations and the Cyprus issue were
the key topics of discussion among Greek Foreign Minister George
Papandreou and his British counterpart Robin Cook in London
yesterday.
In a joint press interview given after their talks, Mr.
Papandreou referred to the Greek firms' contribution to the
reconstruction of Yugoslavia by stating that it "constitutes part
of the role our country seeks to play throughout the region and
aims at promoting reconciliation.
"We will remain in the region after the troops withdraw and
we would like, until then, the Albanians and the Serbs to coexist
peacefully," he stated.
Mr. Papandreou stressed that the international community
should grant assistance to Yugoslavia, while he stressed that
Greek private firms and state organizations alike will cooperate
with foreign firms, British included, in the efforts to
reconstruct the region.
In turn, Mr. Cook referred to Greece's special role as the
only Balkan country which, as a member of the EU and NATO, has
been particularly valuable in reaching the peace agreement on
Kosovo.
"I would like to officially express my admiration for the
positive contribution of Greece and (foreign minister) Mr.
(George) Papandreou in the diplomatic efforts during the crisis in
Kosovo," Mr. Cook said.
"I recognize Greece's special position as a member of NATO
and the European Union, and as the only EU member state in the
Balkans, which provided it with special knowledge about the area
and, of course, gave it the potential to have a significant
contribution to the diplomatic efforts," he added.
Referring to the Cyprus issue, the British Foreign Secretary
stated that the issue will be discussed during the course of the
G8's three-day summit in Cologne.
"We expect Britain and the other countries at the G8 summit
to aim at giving new impetus to the US efforts to resolve the
problem" Mr. Cook said, adding that Britain wants the dialogue to
restart and invites both sides to embark on negotiations without
terms and preconditions.
[19] BELGRADE AIRPORT BEGINS OPERATING TODAY
The Belgrade airport which has been idle for 85 days because
of the NATO aggression will resume functioning on Friday with a
flight of the Yugoslav Avia Transport company's aircraft to Tivat,
Montenegro.
The Golubovac airport in Podgorica, Montenegro, is still
ruined, and passengers will have to reach the town by bus from
Tivat. It is planned to daily make seven flights to Tivat and two
to Podgorica in summer.
International flights will start next week. The Russian
Aeroflot and the Swiss Air companies plan to resume flights to the
Yugoslav capital. They are expected to cater to passengers on
their way to Russia, Switzerland and other countries. Sanctions of
the European Union are still in effect against Yugoslavia, and
they will hardly be canceled in the near future. Under the
sanctions, the air space of EU member-countries and their partners
is closed for Yugoslav aircraft and European air Aeroflot and the
Swiss Air companies plan to resume flights to the Yugoslav
capital. They are expected to cater to passengers on their way to
Russia, Switzerland and other countries. Sanctions of the European
Union are still in effect against Yugoslavia, and they will hardly
be canceled in the near future. Under the
sanctions, the air space of EU member-countries and their partners
is closed for Yugoslav aircraft and European air companies are
unable to fly to Belgrade.
The Belgrade international airport was spared by NATO. Only
two bombs fell on the airport's premises over 78 days, and it
might have been some mistake. Window glass of the airport building
is broken. Planes of Russian envoy for the Yugoslav settlement
Viktor Chernomyrdin, Russian Minister for Civil Defense and
Emergencies Sergei Shoigu and Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari
landed at the airport even at the days of the NATO aggression.
[20] GREECE WAS SERBIA'S BEST FRIEND DURING THE NATO BOMBING
A public opinion poll conducted by Belgrade political
magazine "NIN" showed that 52% of the Serbs believe that Greece
was Yugoslavia's best friend during the NATO air strikes.
According to the public opinion poll, 46% of those questioned
maintained that Yugoslavia managed to defeat the north Atlantic
alliance, while 63% stated that they fully back the peace
agreement. However, 50% of those who participated in the opinion
poll expressed fears that the peace agreement includes "secret"
conditions which have not been made public.
Regarding the issue of the infrastructure and economy
reconstruction of Yugoslavia, 38.5% pointed out that no foreign
country will rush to help Serbia, 29.5% believe that they will
receive economic support from Russia and 27% stated that they hope
that they will receive assistance from the NATO member states
which bear the responsibility for the destruction of their
country.
In the public opinion poll participated 200 randomly selected
residents of Serbia.
[21] THE US AND RUSSIA ARE CLOSER TO AN AGREEMENT ON KOSOVO
US president Bill Clinton stated at noon today that the
United States and Russia are very close to reaching an agreement
on the role of the Russian troops in Kosovo. The two countries
continue their negotiations for a third day in Helsinki, Finland.
Moscow insists to have a sector in Kosovo under its control.
[22] ARMED CLASHES BETWEEN RUSSIAN SOLDIERS AND KLA REBELS AT THE
AIRPORT OF PRISTINA
Armed clashes were recorded near the Slatina Airport in
Pristina between Russian soldiers and Kossovo Liberation Army,
KLA, rebels stated a NATO official to the Russian news agency Itar-
Tass.
The alliance official stated that the situation is tense and
that the incident occurred during a patrol of the Russian forces
in the airport region.
[23] THE ALBANIANS FORCED THE UROSEVAC SERBS TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES,
ACCORDING TO BELGRADE
Urosevac, in southern Kossovo, has been turned into an
exclusively ethnic Albanian city as about 14.000 Serbs, who were
living there, have abandoned their homes.
According to the Serb ministry of information, the city was
abandoned yesterday by the 5.000 remaining Serbs as they were
strongly pressured by the ethnic Albanian residents to leave.
The KLA rebels are in control of the region and they have
forced all the Serbs to flee, stated city mayor Tomislav Simic.
There is chaos at the center of Urosevac where most stores
have been destroyed and many buildings have suffered damages,
while the Kossovo refugees, who are returning from the camps in
FYROM and Albania, occupy the abandoned houses of the Serbs.
[24] ABOUT 30.000 KOSSOVO REFUGEES HAVE RETURNED TO THEIR HOMES
FROM ALBANIA
About 30.000 ethnic Albanian refugees from camps in Albania
it is estimated that have already returned to their homes in
Kossovo since the signing of the peace agreement.
The refugees abandon the camps and move toward the borders
ignoring the repeated calls by the Albanian government not to
speed-up their return and the warnings of risking to be killed by
the land mines that have not been removed yet by the NATO forces.
According to Tirana radio station, already 40.000 refugees,
who had been placed in different camps across the country, are
moving toward the city of Kukes to cross the borders and return to
their homes.
[25] A GREEK WOMAN WAS BRUTALLY MURDERED IN BERLIN
The Greeks in Germany are shaken by yesterday's brutal murder
of a Greek woman at her house in a Berlin suburb.
According to the Berlin press, the unidentified killer hit
the 51yearold woman and then doused her body with gasoline and set
her alight. The woman was later discovered in a comatose state by
a neighbor and the doctor who was called to treat her simply
confirmed her death.
The initial police investigation showed that the woman had
been abused by her assailant.
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