Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2000-01-24
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, January 24, 2000
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] DEFENSE MINISTER RULES OUT EARLY ELECTIONS
[02] FYROM, GREECE DISCUSS OHRID LAKE
[03] "AGROTICA 2000" OPENS THIS WEEK
[04] CENTRAL GREECE'S FARMERS HOLD RALLY
[05] EX FM CRITICAL OF G/T DEVELOPMENTS
[06] INTERVENTION INTEREST RATES CUTS BY THE END OF THE WEEK
[07] LOSSES OF 0.4% IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
[08] GREEK-ARMENIAN TOBACCO PROCESSING COMPANY
[09] REPPAS ON THE GREEK FOREIGN POLICY
[10] THE "GRICO" DIALECT IN SOUTHERN ITALY
[11] ITALIANS PREFER THE GREEK POETRY AND THE GREEKS THE ITALIAN
LITERATURE
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[12] GREEK FM MEETS WITH EU COUNTERPARTS
[13] EU SETS TERMS FOR FYROM'S ACCESSION
[14] PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS IN CROATIA TODAY
[15] GREEKS AND TURKS IN US ISSUE JOINT STATEMENT
[16] ALTERNATE FM AT SOCIALIST INTERNATIONAL
[17] EUROPEAN COMMISSION MONETARY COMMITTEE MEETING
[18] GREEK COMPANIES WILL BUILD A MEDICAL CENTER IN TIRANA
[19] TURKISH BANK BRANCH IN GREECE
[20] TWINNING OF THE CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE IN ATHENS AND ANKARA
[21] STRASBOURG: MEETING OF RELIGIONS' REPRESENTATIVES
[22] FYROM WILL RECOGNIZE CYPRUS
[23] THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE IS DEVELOPING RAPIDLY
[24] THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH WAS WELCOMED IN POLAND WITH GREAT
HONORS
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] DEFENSE MINISTER RULES OUT EARLY ELECTIONS
Defense Minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos has ruled out the
possibility of early elections being held in the first half of
2000, and added that they will be held in accordance with the
existing election law.
Moreover, Mr. Tsochatzopoulos referred to Greek-Turkish
relations and stated that Athens cannot discuss Ankara's
unilateral demands, such as changing the status quo in the Aegean
Sea and claims over "gray zones", as, according to international
accords, these claims are illegal.
However, the Defense Minister stressed that the two neighbors
can discuss "low policy" issues, such as tourism, terrorism combat
and economic cooperation.
[02] FYROM, GREECE DISCUSS OHRID LAKE
Officials from Greece and FYROM met in Ioannina over the
weekend where they exchanged views on the Ohrid lake protection
program.
Representatives from FYROM's "Proakva" state agency exchanged
views with the Greek officials in regards to waste issues and the
lake's waters. The Greek officials outlined their experience
concerning the application of European Union regulations in this
sector.
[03] "AGROTICA 2000" OPENS THIS WEEK
The 16th International Exhibition of agricultural machinery,
equipment and supplies, "Agrotica 2000," gets under way at the
HELEXPO fairgrounds in Thessaloniki on Wednesday, January 26.
Over 1,200 exhibitors are participating, 660 of whom are
foreigners and represent 36 countries.
Albania, Poland, Italy and Bulgaria are participating with
official state pavilions.
[04] CENTRAL GREECE'S FARMERS HOLD RALLY
Farmers from central Greece's Thessaly area staged a rally
at the central city of Larissa this afternoon.
The protesters are opposed to the current EU agricultural
policy, demanding higher prices for their products and more
benefits.
[05] EX FM CRITICAL OF G/T DEVELOPMENTS
Former foreign minister Theodoros Pangalos slammed his
successor George Papandreou for his handling of Greek-Turkish
relations, accusing the current FM of having visited Turkey too
soon.
In his usual vociferous manner, Mr. Pangalos stated in an
interview with the Flash radio station that in spite of Greece's
acquiescence, Ankara did not budge from its known positions, as
the Turkish FM Ismael Cem failed to make even one good will
gesture, such as the re-opening of the Theological School at
Halki, and the granting of a building permit to the Greek Embassy
in Ankara.
As for Mr. Papandreou, Mr. Pangalos stated that he should
have set forth issues pertaining to human rights during his visit
to Ankara, while he said that perhaps he should have visited
Turkey at a later time, when the neighboring country would be
ready to correspond.
Mr. Papandreou's advisers did not escape Mr. Pangalos' wrath.
The former foreign minister characterized them as "upstarts".
Moreover, Mr. Pangalos stated that Greek-Turkish relations
need to be discussed by the ruling PASOK party's Executive Bureau
and Central Committee.
[06] INTERVENTION INTEREST RATES CUTS BY THE END OF THE WEEK
The Bank of Greece is expected to proceed with new cuts in
the intervention interest rates by the end of the week.
Meanwhile, according to press information, inflation in
Greece is expected to close at 2.6% or 2.7% in January.
[07] LOSSES OF 0.4% IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
The week opened today in the Athens Stock Exchange with
losses of 0.4% and the session closed at 5.081,95 points.
The weakness of the general price index to follow an upward
trend is being attributed to the absence of direction in the
Athens Stock Exchange and the continuing liquidation of stocks for
quick profits.
[08] GREEK-ARMENIAN TOBACCO PROCESSING COMPANY
An alliance in the tobacco processing sector is being formed
by the Armenian-Canadian company Grand Tobacco and the Greek
company Missirian. The two companies will form a joint venture
which will be completed by May 2000 having as a main subject the
export of processed tobacco products mainly to the Russian market.
It should be noted that the investment is estimated at US$ 5
million for the current year, while the new company will create
over 1.000-1.200 new jobs.
[09] REPPAS ON THE GREEK FOREIGN POLICY
The Greek foreign policy has been decided by the government
and is being implemented within the framework of the Helsinki EU
summit meeting, stated Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas,
adding that the Helsinki decision was a positive development and
the Greek-Turkish relations must proceed on a stable basis.
On the trip of Greek foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou to
Istanbul and Ankara, he stressed that the visit was positive and
constitutes a basis for the improvement of the Greek-Turkish
relations adding however, that no one has the illusion that Turkey
has changed its policy.
[10] THE "GRICO" DIALECT IN SOUTHERN ITALY
The geographic isolation, the marriage among the members of
the community and the existence of Christian Orthodox monasteries
are regarded as the main factors that contributed to the
preservation of the "Grico", the Greek dialect spoken in the
regions of Salento and Calabria, in southern Italy.
The above will be mentioned by Aristotle University of
Thessaloniki Italian literature department PhD candidate Katerina
Maniati in the presentation she will deliver in the 2nd Conference
of Italian Studies under the title Italian Language and Literature
in 2000 Europe, scheduled to be held in Thessaloniki on January 28-
30.
The people living in the regions of Salento and Calabria
refer to their language as "grico". In Calabria they say "Plateume
grica" and in Salento "omilume grica" meaning "we speak Greek".
The origin of "grico", according to the most dominant view
expressed by German linguist Gerhard Rohlt, can be traced back to
the ancient times when the first Greek colonies were founded in
southern Italy in 750BC.
[11] ITALIANS PREFER THE GREEK POETRY AND THE GREEKS THE ITALIAN
LITERATURE
Italians prefer the Greek poetry, while the Greeks show a
preference to the Italian literature. Specifically, in the past
few years there is an increased interest in Italy in the
translations of Greek poetry mainly of works by Kavafis, Ritsos,
Seferis and Elitis.
In Greece, there is an increased interest in translations of
Italian novelists since 1974, while the Italian poetry is hard to
be translated into Greek and therefore such translations are very
limited.
The above were mentioned by Aristotle University of
Thessaloniki associate professor and chairman of the Italian
literature department Fivos Gigopoulos in a press conference given
in Thessaloniki today on the occasion of the 2nd conference on
Italian studies that will take place in the city on January 28-30.
Mr. Gigopoulos used data that can be found in the book on "The
fate of Italian literature in Greece", stressing that the Italian
language comes third in the preference of the Greeks after English
and French.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[12] GREEK FM MEETS WITH EU COUNTERPARTS
Foreign Minister George Papandreou is to meet with his
European Union counterparts in Brussels today, where the talks
will center on the outcome of his contacts in Ankara last week.
Concurrently, the EU's Monetary Council will also convene
today in order to formulate its final recommendation to ECOFIN,
which is to approve Greece's revised convergence plan on January
31.
[13] EU SETS TERMS FOR FYROM'S ACCESSION
FYROM's readiness to enter into cooperative and good
neighborly relations with other countries of the region, and
especially Greece (which would also mean the resolution of the
name issue pending between the two countries), is one of the
conditions set forth by the European Union in the development of
relations with Skopje, i.e. the latter's association with the EU.
Moreover, the European Commission has stated that FYROM's
Association negotiations will move forward only when the said
country proceeds to the necessary concessions on key matters
concerning its present domestic and foreign policies.
The European Council is expected today to grant the European
Commission with the mandate to proceed to negotiations with FYROM
towards an association with the European Union.
[14] PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS IN CROATIA TODAY
Voting got underway this morning in Croatia, where
presidential elections are being held following the death of
incumbent president Franjo Tudjman in December. The major
contenders are Stipe Mesic, Drazen Budisa and outgoing Foreign
Minister Mate Granic all of whom have vowed to call for
restriction of the president's powers.
Mesic is deputy chairman of the Croatian People's Party and a
candidate of a coalition of four centrist parties. He was the
presidium chairman of Yugoslavia before its break-up in 1991.
Budisa is leader of the Croatian Social-Liberal Party. His
party defeated the Croatian Democratic Alliance in coalition with
the Social Democratic Party in parliamentary elections on January
3, winning 71 seats in the 150-member parliament.
Granic was nominated by the Croatian Democratic Alliance.
If no candidate wins 50 per cent of votes plus one vote in
the first round, two runners with the highest votes will go in the
runoff to be held on February.
[15] GREEKS AND TURKS IN US ISSUE JOINT STATEMENT
On the occasion of recent actions taken by Greece and Turkey
in furthering bilateral relations, expatriated Greeks and Turks
in the United States issued a joint statement complimenting the
efforts of their homelands.
Greek-American leaders Andrew A. Athens, World President of
the World Council of Hellenes Abroad (SAE) and Andrew E. Manatos,
President of the National
Coordinated Effort of Hellenes (CEH), who together launched an
"Initiative for Peace" in 1998; and Turkish-American leader Tolga
Cubukcu, President of the Assembly of Turkish American
Associations (ATAA), signed a statement that read
as follows:
"We strongly support recent efforts by Greece and Turkey to
take significant
steps forward to improve bilateral relations. We are particularly
pleased by developments in recent days."
Moreover, they wrote that "we are also pleased that during
this visit Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit invited his Greek
counterpart, Prime Minister Costas Simitis, to visit Turkey."
[16] ALTERNATE FM AT SOCIALIST INTERNATIONAL
Alternate Foreign Minister Christos Rokofyllos is presently
in Portugal, where
he us representing Prime Minister Costas Simitis at the meeting of
the Socialist International's presidium.
Mr. Simitis is one of the vice-presidents of the Socialist
International.
The Socialist International has decided to begin a crusade
for the abolition of the death penalty, for the protection of the
political, social and economic rights of individuals, for the
protection of the environment and for the employment conditions of
women around the globe.
The European Union's General Affairs Council meeting is also
being held in Portugal today, the first held under the Portuguese
EU presidency.
Mr. Rokofyllos will conduct talks with the Slovak government
in Bratislava tomorrow.
[17] EUROPEAN COMMISSION MONETARY COMMITTEE MEETING
Recommendations to Greece to continue its tight revenue
policy and strict wage policy and to speed-up the planned
privatization and the changes in the social security system will
be included in the report of the European Commission monetary
committee that meets in Brussels today.
The report will be presented to the finance ministers council
which next Monday will ratify the reviewed convergence program
proposed by Greece.
[18] GREEK COMPANIES WILL BUILD A MEDICAL CENTER IN TIRANA
A modern diagnostic center will be built in Tirana soon,
according to the Albanian newspaper "Gazetta Skiptare".
This important project in the sector of health, with an
estimated cost of several millions of dollars, has been undertaken
by the Greek company "Athens Medical Center" and the insurance
company "Interamerican" in cooperation with the Albanian company
"Areks".
According to the newspaper, the cost for the care of the
patients will be undertaken by "Interamerican" as it will offer
insurance coverage to the Albanian citizens.
[19] TURKISH BANK BRANCH IN GREECE
Turkey considers the opening of a Turkish bank branch in
Greece after the announcement that a branch of the National Bank
of Greece will open in Istanbul.
The opening of the National Bank of Greece branch was
announced by its president Theodoros Karatzas in the meeting of
Greek and Turkish businessmen that was held in Istanbul recently.
According to the Turkish newspaper "Sabah", the branch will open
in order to back the investments of Greek businessmen to Turkey.
[20] TWINNING OF THE CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE IN ATHENS AND ANKARA
The twinning of the Athens Chamber of Commerce with that of
Ankara will take place soon. The Turkish foreign ministry has
already given its written permission for the materialization of
this initiative, while according to the Turkish newspaper "Sabah",
the move by Ankara's Chamber of Commerce has won the enthusiastic
support of the Athens Chamber of Commerce.
The twinning will take place possibly on April 21-23 and for
this purpose about 150 Turkish businessmen will visit Athens. The
visit will be returned by Greek businessmen who will be in Turkey
next fall.
[21] STRASBOURG: MEETING OF RELIGIONS' REPRESENTATIVES
Representatives of the Christian, Jewish and Muslim religions
will have a series of meetings in Strasbourg in view of the
ecumenical conference scheduled to take place in the spring.
The meetings will focus in principle on reaching an agreement
aimed at developing a joint strategy and organization for the
safeguarding and management of religious places within the
relevant program undertaken by the Council of Europe.
Among the issues discussed will be the contribution of
Churches and religious communities in the efforts made to deal
effectively with the smuggling of cultural goods on which the
Council of Europe has drawn up a special accord and is planning to
hold a forum next May to discuss ways of cooperation among the
different religions.
[22] FYROM WILL RECOGNIZE CYPRUS
FYROM's foreign minister Alexander Dimitrov confirmed recent
press reports according to which, his country will open diplomatic
relations with Cyprus without defining the exact date of the
formal announcement on this decision.
According to Skopje's newspaper "Vetser". Mr. Dimitrov stated
that FYROM's foreign policy is directed toward forming diplomatic
relations with as many states as possible and therefore, with
Cyprus.
On the expected reactions of Turkey to such a decision, Mr.
Dimitrov stated that it is not certain that there will be any
reactions. Turkish ambassador to Skopje Mustafa Fasli Kesmir gave
the assurance that Ankara will not be involved in case the FYROM
government decides to open diplomatic relations with Cyprus.
[23] THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE IS DEVELOPING RAPIDLY
The Dutch newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad refers to the
rapid development of the Athens Stock Exchange. According to the
report, about 1.2 million Greek families have invested in stocks
and the stock market is the main topic of discussion in the
everyday life of the Greeks.
It also clarified that the total value of the capital
invested in the Athens Stock Exchange is 160-200% of the GDP,
adding that the investments in stocks have increased the
purchasing power of the Greeks.
The newspaper mentions that the general price index in the
Athens Stock Exchange increased by 90% in 1998 and 1999 and that
the main factor behind the rapid growth was the dynamic effort
made by the Greek government in order to win the entry of the
country into the European Economic and Monetary Union, EMU.
[24] THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH WAS WELCOMED IN POLAND WITH GREAT
HONORS
The important place of the Christian Orthodox faith in the
united Europe with the presence of the eastern European countries
in it, was stressed by Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos in the
meeting he had with Polish president Aleksander Kwasnievski and
prime minister Jierzi Buzek
In the talks which were held in a warm and friendly
atmosphere in Warsaw, the president and the prime minister of
Poland assured the Ecumenical Patriarch that the Polish Christian
Orthodox Church, which numbers 800.000 faithful, has their total
protection and care.
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