Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2000-11-23
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, November 23, 2000
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
TITLES
[01] ROGGE - SIMITIS TO MEET TODAY
[02] KOTSARIAN IN THESSALONIKI TODAY
[03] FLORIDES - REDDING DUE TO MEET TODAY
[04] GREECE WANTS OUT-OF-COURT SETTLEMENT FOR GERMAN ISSUE
[05] IOC MEETS WITH ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS
[06] ROGGE SATISFIED WITH SIMITIS MEETING
[07] TAMBAKOS WILL PARTICIPATE IN GERMAN COMPETITION
[08] SIMITIS LEAVES FOR ZAGREB
[09] PAPAZOI: THE DECISION ON THE FORMER KING WAS NOT A SURPRISE
FOR THE GREEK GOVERNMENT
[10] THE LOSSES CONTINUE IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
[11] THE ARMENIAN PRESIDENT IS VISITING THESSALONIKI
[12] JACQUES ROGGE MET WITH THE GREEK MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT,
PUBLIC WORKS AND LAND PLANNING
[13] CHRISTODOULAKIS-ROGGE MEETING
[14] SIMITIS-DIMITROV MEETING IN ATHENS
[15] THE MARKET DECREE BANNING THE MEAT PRODUCTS HAS BEEN ISSUED
IN GREECE
[16] REPPAS' COMMENTS ON TERRORISM
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[17] DIAMANTOPOULOU: GREEK ECONOMY ON POSITIVE PATH
[18] EU COMMISSIONER DIAMANTOPOULOU ON THE ABUSE OF WOMEN
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] ROGGE - SIMITIS TO MEET TODAY
International Olympic Committee vice President Jacques Rogge
will hold several meetings with Greek politicians and officials
during his visit to Athens, concerning the progress being made in
preparation of the 2004 Olympic Games.
Mr Rogge is due to meet with Greek Prime Minister Costas
Simitis and with Environment minister Costas Laliotis this
morning.
He will then have meetings with the country's Development
Nikos Christodoulakis to discuss the issue of accommodation and
hospitality during the Olympics and with the Mayor of Athens,
Dimitis Avramopoulos. The IOC vice President will also meet with
the head of the police force, for discussions concerning the
safety program being planned for the Games.
Tomorrow Mr Rogge will meet with the President of the "Athens
2004" committee, Gianna Angelopoulou-Daskalaki, after which a
joint press interview will be held.
[02] KOTSARIAN IN THESSALONIKI TODAY
The President of Armenia, Robert Kotsarian is today visiting
Thessaloniki as part of his trip to Greece.
He will visit the Archaeological Museum, before meeting with
the city's Mayor Vasilis Papageorgopoulos, the minister of
Macedonia and Thrace, George Paschalides as well as with the
Armenian community of Thessaloniki.
[03] FLORIDES - REDDING DUE TO MEET TODAY
Greek Sports undersecretary George Florides will meet with EC
commissioner Vivian Redding, who is responsible for training,
cultural and sports issues, on November 28th.
During the last Council meeting held for European Sports
ministers in Paris, Ms Redding informed the ministers on the issue
of transfers. She will give a press interview today in the Greek
EC office.
[04] GREECE WANTS OUT-OF-COURT SETTLEMENT FOR GERMAN ISSUE
The Greek government would like to reach an out-of-court
settlement of the issue of German compensation, based on the good
relations shared between Greece and Germany, stated Greek minister
of Justice, Michalis Stathopoulos, who met with representatives of
the National Council claiming benefits from the German state.
The members of the delegation, which included Manolis Glezos,
Georgios Alexandros Mangakis and Ioannis Stamoulis, informed the
Justice minister of the discussions held with representatives of
the German Foreign ministry.
[05] IOC MEETS WITH ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS
The International Olympic Committee delegates met with
representatives of four environmental organisations (WWF Hellas,
Ornithology Company, Greek Company for the Protection of Nature
and the Greek Company for the Protection of the Environment and of
Cultural Heritage), who are opposed to the building of Olympic
facilities in the Marathona area and the coastal area Schinia.
The IOC delegates suggested cooperating with the
environmental organisations on the issue of the "National Park of
Schinia" management. The latter believe that the "National Park"
does not guarantee the protection of sensitive ecosystems located
in Schinia and is a huge construction project that will be a bad
example for other parks in Greece.
The environmental representatives stated that cooperation in
the management of Schinia can only begin once a decision has been
taken to change the specific Olympic projects that they disapprove
of and asked the IOC to assume responsibility for the lack of
environmental consideration in the Olympics preparations.
[06] ROGGE SATISFIED WITH SIMITIS MEETING
International Olympics Committee Jacques Rogge stated that he
was satisfied with the meeting he held with the Greek Prime
Minister Costas Simitis this morning, which the "Athens 2004"
President Gianna Angelopoulou-Daskalaki also attended.
Mr Rogge remarked that the IOC is completely satisfied with
the efforts being made by the Greek government for the Olympic
project preparations. He will also hold meetings with Environment
minister Costas Laliotis, Development minister Nikos
Christodoulakis and with the Mayor of Athens Dimitris
Avramopoulos.
Meanwhile, the go-ahead has also been given for the
construction of new hotels and an estimated 5.000 rooms will be
built by 2004, at a cost of 100 billion drachmas, in order to meet
the high hospitality demands created by the Games.
[07] TAMBAKOS WILL PARTICIPATE IN GERMAN COMPETITION
Greek Olympic medal winner Dimosthenis Tambakos left for
Germany today, to participate in an international gymnastics
event, starting tomorrow, where he will compete in the rings
event.
The Greek athlete will also take part in a gymnastics
competition due to take place in Glasgow next month.
[08] SIMITIS LEAVES FOR ZAGREB
Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis will depart for the
Croatian capital Zagreb this evening, accompanied by his Foreign
minister George Papandreou, Press minister Dimitris Reppas and by
his advisors, where he will take part in the European Union summit
being held with the participation of Southeastern European
countries.
After the summit, Mr Simitis will return to Athens with
French President Jacques Chirac and French Foreign minister Hubert
Vedrine. Mr Chirac is expected to hold talks with the President of
the Republic Costis Stephanopoulos, with Mr Simitis and Mr
Papandreou, to discuss the results of the Zagreb summit.
Preliminary discussions will also be held concerning the EU summit
due to be held in Nice next month.
[09] PAPAZOI: THE DECISION ON THE FORMER KING WAS NOT A SURPRISE
FOR THE GREEK GOVERNMENT
The European Court for Human Rights decision on the former
King did not surprise the Greek government, stated deputy foreign
minister Elisavet Papazoi to the Athens radio station "Flash".
Ms. Papazoi stressed that the government will wait for the
court decision on the size of the compensation, which is expected
to be issued in about six months, and underlined that then it may
be revealed that "Gligsbourg owes us and not the opposite".
The European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg condemned
Greece for confiscating the assets of former King Constantine, his
sister's Irene and their aunt's Catherine in 1994. With 15 votes
to 2 it ruled that the Greek state violated the right to
ownership.
The European Court announced that it will decide on the size
of the compensation that will be paid to the members of the former
royal family on another date. The former King asks for US$1.4
billion.
[10] THE LOSSES CONTINUE IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
Significant losses of 1.42% were recorded in the Athens Stock
Exchange and the general index dropped to 3.260,61 points, while
the volume of transactions remained low at 50.2 billion drachmas.
There was panic among investors when the general index at
some point dropped to 3.203,65 as there were fears that it could
drop below the 3.200 points mark. Of the stocks trading today, 278
recorded losses, 65 had gains and 34 remained unchanged.
[11] THE ARMENIAN PRESIDENT IS VISITING THESSALONIKI
Armenian president Robert Kotsarian arrived in Thessaloniki
this morning accompanied the ministers of trade, industry,
agriculture and justice and by the mayors of Yerevan and Gumri.
His first stop was the city's Archaeological Museum and after
visiting the Gold of the Macedons exhibition he left for the City
Hall where he had a formal meeting with mayor Vasilis
Papageorgopoulos. During the visit, the protocol for the twining
of the cities of Thessaloniki and Gumri was signed.
Thessaloniki's mayor honored the Armenian president with the
city's gold medal, stressing that Armenia is a mother country for
many Greeks and adding that bilateral relations can improve
further.
The Armenian president in his speech referred to the
traditionally friendly relations between Greece and Armenia and
underlined the important role played by Thessaloniki for the
regional stability and security in the wider region, both through
the Black Sea Bank in which Armenia participates and the Stability
Pact in south eastern Europe.
He referred to the Armenians, who found a second homeland in
Greece and expressed the wish that a delegation from Thessaloniki
will be present in Armenia in 2001 for the celebrations on the
occasion of the 1.700th anniversary of the adoption of
Christianity as the official religion in the country.
[12] JACQUES ROGGE MET WITH THE GREEK MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT,
PUBLIC WORKS AND LAND PLANNING
International Olympic Committee, IOC, vice-president Jacques
Rogge, who is in Athens, met with minister of environment, public
works and land planning Kostas Laliotis. The Greek minister
informed him that the five sports projects, responsible for which
is his ministry, will be ready in January 2004 and not in May of
that year as it was initially announced.
Mr. Rogge appeared very satisfied with this development and
stated that this is not just a thought that it is still on paper
but an absolutely realistic and documented proposal. He reiterated
however, that the intensive efforts must continue, stressing that
the work does not stop here.
[13] CHRISTODOULAKIS-ROGGE MEETING
The program concerning the improvement of the hotel
infrastructure in the wider region of Athens aimed at covering the
needs of the thousands of visitors expected in the 2004 Olympic
Games, was presented to International Olympic Committee, IOC, vice-
president Jacques Rogge by minister of development Nikos
Christodoulakis.
Mr. Rogge praised Mr. Christodoulakis for the moves made by
his ministry on the issue of the Olympic hospitality and the
energy supply of the Olympic projects. An additional 9.000 beds
will be created in the wider region of Athens and according to Mr.
Rogge, this is a positive fact both for the period of the Olympic
Games and afterwards.
[14] SIMITIS-DIMITROV MEETING IN ATHENS
Greek prime minister Kostas Simitis met with FYROM foreign
minister Alexander Dimitrov, who is on a visit to Athens.
In the meeting, that was held in the presence of Greek
foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou, were discussed Greece's
relations with FYROM and the situation formed in the Balkans.
Mr. Dimitrov also met with undersecretary of national economy
Yiannis Zafiropoulos and they discussed issues of economic
cooperation between Greece and FYROM.
Mr. Zafiropoulos pointed out that they examined pending
economic problems between the two countries and there was an
agreement for the intensification of the efforts for the
development of economic relations and the materialization of the
Greek plan for the reconstruction of the Balkans.
The FYROM minister also stated that the political cooperation
between the two countries passes through the strengthening of
economic relations.
[15] THE MARKET DECREE BANNING THE MEAT PRODUCTS HAS BEEN ISSUED
IN GREECE
The market decree concerning the products that are banned in
Greece as a result of the "mad cow" disease scare has been issued
and will be in effect starting on Saturday.
According to the decree, the parts of the cattle from France
that are being slaughtered in Greece and are suspect of spreading
the disease namely, heads, offal and bones will be destroyed
regardless of the age of the animals. Also, Greece will not
receive live cattle from France that are over the age of 20 months
and are destined for reproduction as well as, cattle egg cells.
The use of meat-and-bone meals as animal feed was also banned,
while animal feed that include meat flours will be confiscated and
withdrawn from the market regardless of the country they come
from.
In case of violations there will be heavy fines of up to 10
million drachmas.
[16] REPPAS' COMMENTS ON TERRORISM
There is cooperation between Greece and the United States for
the coordination of the efforts aimed at fighting terrorist
phenomena, pointed out Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas,
stressing that the two sides have found a common language of
communication on the issue and this communication is continuous in
view of the 2004 Olympic Games.
The Greek government spokesman responded when he was asked to
comment on whether the US side exerts pressure on Greece for the
enactment of an anti-terrorist law that the Greek government has
undertaken to make certain changes on issues of procedure.
Finally, referring to the press reports on terrorism in
Greece, he said that it is obvious that they were published on
grounds of expediency. He stated that such press publications do
not do justice to Greece, stressing that it is as safe as the
United States themselves and other countries.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[17] DIAMANTOPOULOU: GREEK ECONOMY ON POSITIVE PATH
Greece is the only country that will increase its gross
domestic product (GDP) significantly over the next two years,
whilst the rate of development in this area will fall in other EU
countries, according to a report published by the European
Commission yesterday.
EU analysts foresee a rapid increase in the development rate
of Greek GDP to 4.8% in 2002, from this year's expected 4.1% and
according to the report, this progress has been noted thanks to
the country's entry into the European Monetary Union and to the
investments planned for the 2004 Olympic Games.
The next years will see a financial recovery in the
employment sector, which today stands at 11.2%. Greek Commissioner
Anna Diamantopoulou stressed that the rapid rates of development
foreseen over the next few years will allow the country to deal
with the problem of unemployment.
The report concludes that the Greek economy has taken a
positive path and that Greece can meet the demands of the 12 EMU
members.
[18] EU COMMISSIONER DIAMANTOPOULOU ON THE ABUSE OF WOMEN
One in five women in Europe was the victim of a violent
treatment at least once in her lifetime. The statement was made by
Greek EU Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou, responsible for social
and job related issues, in an interview with "Radio Roma RAI
International" and concerns the cases of rape and abuse within the
family as well as, the undermining behavior displayed in the work
place.
Ms. Diamantopoulou stated that there are no relevant
statistics in all EU member-states and the collection of evidence
concerning violent acts is insufficient and occasional. However,
she stated that the existing evidence and the research conducted
until now have showed that the violence targeting women is a real
social problem for Europe as well.
In view of November 25, the day dedicated for the
mobilization against the violence targeting women, the Greek EU
Commissioner called on all the state governments to make greater
efforts aimed at passing new legislation providing for tougher
penalties, while she also called for greater intervention in the
sectors of prevention and evidence collection.
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