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Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2000-04-14
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, April 14, 2000
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] SUPREME COURT ISSUES LANDMARK RULING ON DISTOMO
[02] PRESIDENT RECEIVES GREEK ACADEMICS FROM ABROAD
[03] GREEK BANK TO OPEN INSURANCE COMPANY IN ROMANIA
[04] TIF CELEBRATES 75th YEAR WITH SERIES OF EVENTS
[05] ATHENS BOURSE PLUNGES 5.82%, GPI DROPS TO 4,450
[06] SEMINAR AT THESSALONIKI' S GREEK LANGUAGE SCHOOL
[07] GREEK AND TURKISH MAYORS TO MEET TOMORROW
[08] GREEK LITERATURE SYLLABI TRANSLATED IN GEORGIAN
[09] ANNA KARAMANOU WILL VISIT ISTANBUL
[10] "BLACK" FRIDAY FOR THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
[11] REPPAS' COMMENTS ON THE STOCK MARKET
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[12] INTRALOT SIGNS CONTRACT WITH SERBIA'S TELECOM
[13] TURKISH FM: WE'RE READY TO HOLD TALKS ON AEGEAN
[14] GREEK-AUSTRALIAN POLITICIAN BACKS THEODORAKIS' CANDIDATURE
FOR THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
[15] THE EU COMMISSION ON THE GREEK ECONOMY
[16] THE ENVIRONMENT ALONG THE EGNATIA ODOS ROAD AXIS MUST BE
RESTORED
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] SUPREME COURT ISSUES LANDMARK RULING ON DISTOMO
In a landmark ruling, Greece's Supreme Court (Areios Pagos)
has found in favor of those who fell victim to Nazi atrocities
during the course of WWII, upholding the lower court's decision
for war reparations amounting to nine billion drachmas ($30
million), to be paid to the relatives of 214 civilians executed
by Nazis in 1944 in the village of Distomo in central Greece.
The Supreme Court adjudicated a recourse from the German
state to reverse a 1997 ruling by the Livadia Court of First
Instance which had granted to 218 inhabitants of Distomo the sum
of 9.5 billion drachmas in compensation for the martyrs' death
suffered by the plaintiffs' relatives during the German occupation
of Greece in 1944.
The German state had sought recourse to reverse the lower
court's ruling by claiming that it had the right not to stand
trial in a foreign country for actions committed by its officials
even if these ran counter to International Law. In challenging the
1997 ruling, Germany also maintained that all compensation was
settled in postwar agreements between the two countries.
However, the Greek lawyers in the Distomo case argued that
individual Greeks have the right to file private suits against
Germany.
[02] PRESIDENT RECEIVES GREEK ACADEMICS FROM ABROAD
The President of the Hellenic Republic received a 100-member
delegation of Greek academics of the diaspora who arrived in
Athens yesterday for a three-day conference on "Tertiary Education
and
Greek Academics Who Live Abroad."
The conference is part of a program set up by the University
of Athens to create a network of scientific, social, political and
cultural ties between the university community in Greece and Greek
academics who live and work abroad. The aim is to strengthen
cooperation and to facilitate an exchange of opinions on the aims
of and trends in tertiary
education.
[03] GREEK BANK TO OPEN INSURANCE COMPANY IN ROMANIA
The Agricultural Bank of Greece has announced plans to
establish an insurance company in Romania, under the name
Agricultural Bank of Greece Insurance Company (A.B.G. Insurance
Co.).
Agricultural Life will own 50 per cent of the new company's
shares, while Agricultural Insurance will own 40 per cent,
Agricultural Holding will own 5 per cent and ATE Finance will own
the remaining 5 per cent, according to the bank's announcement.
The company will apply for the necessary license to operate
in Romania over the next few days. The new firm's capital will
rise to 500 million drachmas over the next three years.
[04] TIF CELEBRATES 75th YEAR WITH SERIES OF EVENTS
The Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) will celebrate the
75th anniversary since its founding, although it is presently in
its 63rd year of operation this year, since it was interrupted
between 1940 and 1950 due to World War II and the Greek civil war.
To commemorate the anniversary, TIF's board announced a
series of events from May to November, including a special
exhibition titled "A Currency for Europe", which focuses on the
historical development of currencies in the continent, to the
institution of the euro.
[05] ATHENS BOURSE PLUNGES 5.82%, GPI DROPS TO 4,450
The General Price Index of the Athens Stock Exchange plunged
to 4,450.02 points today, suffering a loss of approximately 5.82
percent by 11 am.
Even the banking sector, which so far had countered pressures
on the GPI, dropped by 5.32 this morning, while trade volume
remained at a low GRD 34 billion.
[06] SEMINAR AT THESSALONIKI' S GREEK LANGUAGE SCHOOL
The Greek Language School of Thessaloniki will hold a two-
day seminar about teaching Greek as a second language.
The seminar will be held between May 27-28 and is open to all
education professionals.
Applications to participate must be submitted by Wednesday,
April 19. For more information call (031) 831-001.
[07] GREEK AND TURKISH MAYORS TO MEET TOMORROW
Twenty-two mayors from Greece and Turkey are to hold their
first meeting tomorrow, in an effort to form a "Euroregion" area
on both sides of the Evros River, or Metic, in Turkish.
The mayors, from the Greek municipality of Evros and the
Turkish municipality of Edirne are to meet with experts who will
outline the parameters of the Euroregion prospects, as well as the
obligations emanating therefrom.
The ensuing proposals are to form a document that will be
signed at a later meeting.
[08] GREEK LITERATURE SYLLABI TRANSLATED IN GEORGIAN
Greek-language syllabi are to be translated in the Georgian
language for tertiary-level studies of Greek literature, art and
history,
to be followed by a Greek-Georgian language dictionary.
The decision to publish the Greek-language textbooks was
drawn during a visit conducted by a delegation of the Aristotle
University of Thessaloniki's "Jason" program to three Georgian
universities, namely the State U. of Tiblisi, the affiliate
university of Ahalcihe and the University of Vatoum.
Moreover, the Greek delegation's visit resulted in the
formation of a bilateral task force comprising academic
historians who will document the local history of the diaspora's
Greeks.
[09] ANNA KARAMANOU WILL VISIT ISTANBUL
Greek Euro-deputy from the governing socialist party of PASOK
and vice-president of the Women Socialist International Anna
Karamanou leaves for Istanbul today to participate in a conference
organized by the Turkish Republican Popular Party (CHP) on the
role of women in the 21st century politics.
Among the main speakers in the conference will be Anna
Karamanou, vice-president of the Socialist International Mr. Erdal
Inonu, CHP vice-president Yasae Seyman, Women Socialist
International president Ms. Renau and general secretary Ms. Haas.
[10] "BLACK" FRIDAY FOR THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
The Athens Stock Exchange lived a "black" Friday today as the
general index recorded losses of 5.29% dropping to 5.475,44
points, while the volume of transactions was high at 195,7 billion
drachmas mostly because of stock sales.
The psychological state of the investors, which suffered a
blow yesterday when rumors circulated on the alleged downgrading
of the Greek stock market, dropped to low levels today due to the
imaginative scenarios that were speaking even about a likely
resignation of national economy minister Yiannos Papantoniou.
Given the fact that the Athens Stock Exchange moves mostly based
on psychological criteria and not on economic ones, the prospects
for the next sessions are not regarded as favorable.
[11] REPPAS' COMMENTS ON THE STOCK MARKET
The speculation that the successful economic policy of the
government is a good omen for the course of the Athens Stock
Exchange was expressed by government spokesman Dimitris Reppas
after today's plunge of the general index by 5.29%.
Mr. Reppas stated that the Athens Stock Exchange follows its
own rules but the successful economic policy of the government is
the best basis and a favorable omen for the development of the
Athens Stock Exchange itself.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[12] INTRALOT SIGNS CONTRACT WITH SERBIA'S TELECOM
Intralot has announced the signing of a contract with
Telecom Serbia, which calls for the supply of the Yugoslav
telecommunications
organization with telephone cards through its subsidiary Yugolot
Ltd.
A company statement said that Yugolot's sales network and
partners totals 4,000 sites in the country.
Yugolot was chosen because of its know-how and its
experience in developing new telecommunications sales network.
Telephone card sales are steadily increasing in Yugoslavia
accounting for 90 percent of total sales.
[13] TURKISH FM: WE'RE READY TO HOLD TALKS ON AEGEAN
Turkey is ready to hold talks on issues pertaining to the
Aegean Sea, the Turkish Foreign Minister Ismael Cem stated,
according to the BBC.
In an interview with the Turkish television station NTV,
which the BBC quotes, Mr. Cem reiterated that his country wishes
to resolve pending matters, such as the Aegean, and announced
that Athens and Ankara are to soon embark on talks over this
issue.
Mr. Cem also stated that, prior to last weekend's elections
in Greece, he told his Greek counterpart, George Papandreou, that
Ankara was prepared to start talks on the issue when Athens is
ready, Cem added.
According to the Turkish FM, these informal talks could start
between senior foreign ministry officials on each side.
However, Turkish Defense Minster Sabahatin Cakmakoglu has
expressed his reservations over Greek-Turkish relations, having
stated that the noted improvement in bilateral ties does not
suffice for resolving the problems existing between the two
neighbors.
[14] GREEK-AUSTRALIAN POLITICIAN BACKS THEODORAKIS' CANDIDATURE
FOR THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
Greek-Australian "shadow" minister of environment Nikos
Bolkas with a letter addressed to the International Academy backs
the candidature of Greek music composer Mikis Theodorakis for the
Nobel Peace Prize.
In his letter, Mr. Bolkas underlines among others that for
decades Mikis Teodorakis fought at a world level for peace,
justice and equality. His music, which is of extremely high
quality, expresses the fair ambitions of the victims of injustice,
oppression and looting on behalf of different leaderships, said
Mr. Bolkas, adding that the biggest success of Mr. Theodorakis is
that he used the power of his music in an attempt to achieve the
rapprochement of many countries in the world.
[15] THE EU COMMISSION ON THE GREEK ECONOMY
The EU Commission through its responsible commissioner
referred clearly to the prospects for Greece's accession into the
EMU. The comments made by EU Commissioner Pedro Soibles actually
announced that Greece will be the 12th member of the EMU on
January 1, 2001.
The EU Commission calls on Greece to speed up the
privatization program by freeing the telecommunications market,
the electric energy and the natural gas markets. On the social
security issue, the reform should be aimed at the viability of the
social security funds, while among the measures that were proposed
by Brussels is to extend the pension age limit.
On the job market, the EU Commission believes that it must
become more flexible to deal with the high unemployment in the
country, while among the suggested measures is the adoption of
part-time employment.
[16] THE ENVIRONMENT ALONG THE EGNATIA ODOS ROAD AXIS MUST BE
RESTORED
The Egnatia Odos Ltd. is obligated to restore the environment
along Aliakmon River that has disturbed because of the work made
for the construction of the road axis, according to the European
Commission which responded to a question by Coalition of the Left
Euro-deputy Alekos Alavanos.
Mr. Alavanos conveyed the complaints made by local residents
and environmentalists according to which, the excavation materials
for the construction of the motorway are being left at the river
banks destroying the natural environment.
The European Commission mentions characteristically that the
company that has undertaken the construction of the Egnatia Odos
motorway is obligated to implement the environmental effects study
approved by the Greek authorities, while at the same time, it
mentions that the Egnatia Odos Ltd., which is responsible for the
construction of the project, must observe all the terms included
in the existing contract.
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