Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2000-12-08
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, December 8, 2000
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
TITLES
[01] PM: JOBLESSNESS WILL BE TACKLED BY DEVELOPMENT
[02] EXHIBITION OPENS ON SANTORINI'S ANCIENT MURALS
[03] UNICEF HOLDS LOVE TELETHON FOR STREET CHILDREN
[04] UNIONS CALL YESTERDAY'S MASS STRIKE "A SUCCESS"
[05] "THESSALONIKI MONEY SHOW 2000" OPENS TOMORROW
[06] GERMANY TO COMPENSATE NAZI VICTIMS IN GREECE
[07] BALKAN MAYORS MEET FOR FRIENDSHIP, COOPERATION
[08] PRAYER SERVICE HELD TODAY FOR BRIG. SAUNDERS
[09] COMMISSION PROPOSES MARITIME SAFETY MEASURES
[10] BUSINESS DELEGATION TO VISIT ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT
[11] GREEK DEFENSE MINISTER TO VISIT FYROM NEXT WEEK
[12] OVER 2,000 TONS OF RICE MISSING FROM FARMING SILOS
[13] EXPRESSION OF INTEREST CALL FOR O.A. STAKE TODAY
[14] INFLATION WAS AT 4.2% IN NOVEMBER
[15] MARGINAL LOSSES IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
[16] THE CULTURAL ROLE OF THE GREEKS IN PLOVDIV
[17] THE 8TH WORLD CONFERENCE OF THE PAN-MACEDONIAN ASSOCIATIONS
WILL BE HELD IN 2001
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[18] THE GREEK LANGUAGE WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE ITALIAN HIGH
SCHOOLS EXAM MATERIAL
[19] US INTEREST IN HOLDING A MELINA MERCOURI FESTIVAL
[20] A GREEK BUSINESSMAN WAS HONORED FOR HIS CONTRIBUTION TO THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUNGARIAN ECONOMY
[21] THE "15" ARE SATISFIED WITH THE AGREEMENT ON THE EU-TURKEY
PARTNERSHIP RELATION
[22] SIMITIS' PRESS CONFERENCE IN NICE, FRANCE
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] PM: JOBLESSNESS WILL BE TACKLED BY DEVELOPMENT
A necessary precondition for job creation is to accelerate
growth, Prime Minister Costas Simitis stated in response to the
Macedonian Press Agency's question pertaining to the country's
high unemployment figures and the national plan to combat
joblessness.
Presently in Nice, France, where he is attending the European
Union's Summit Conference, Mr. Simitis stated that unemployment is
indeed a problem for the country, but, he added, an increase in
the workforce often means a simultaneous increase in production,
employment, and unemployment.
"There is a number of unemployed persons, such as women or
those coming from the farming sector, who are just now entering
the new labor market. There is a great supply of jobs, and this
will be addressed through a high pace of economic and social
growth is achieved and maintained. We are trying for accelerated
growth rates and we will take additional employment measures. "
Furthermore, the Premier referred to Turkey, in response to
MPA's question regarding his statement that Turkish Premier Bulent
Ecevit is turning a page, and stated that if Turkey accepts its
new relation with the EU, then this relation has to proceed within
this framework. This means turning a page."
The Nice Summit, which got underway yesterday, will feature
discussions on the EU's enlargement, institutional reform, the
Intergovernmental Conference, unemployment, public health and
taxation policies as well as environment, safety of food and
foreign policy issues.
It features the attendance of the EU's heads of state and
government and their counterparts from the 13 candidate countries
for accession. Mr. Ecevit participated for the first time in
yesterday's Conference, since it was enacted in 1998.
The Conference will also review the possibility of other
countries participating in the conference, such as countries from
the western Balkans and the countries of the European Free Trade
Zone.
[02] EXHIBITION OPENS ON SANTORINI'S ANCIENT MURALS
An exhibition of ancient Aegean painting is to open at
Larissa's Modern Arts Center today, featuring 41 exact
reproductions of ancient murals found in prehistoric Akrotiri, an
ancient city being excavated in the district of Thera at the
island of Santorini.
The exhibition will run through February 10, 2001.
According to archaeological reports, the murals were painted
in 1620 BC, shortly before the city was destroyed by a massive
volcanic eruption.
[03] UNICEF HOLDS LOVE TELETHON FOR STREET CHILDREN
Greece's public television channel NET and UNICEF will hold a
love telethon for street children on Monday, December 11, which is
officially designated as Street Children Day for this year.
According to UNICEF, hundreds of millions of children have to
live, work and survive on city streets around the world, becoming
easy prey to every kind of abuse and exploitation.
The live telethon will start at 6:00 p.m. and continue until
the early hours of the next morning, with a number of guest stars
and celebrities appearing.
Organizers have made great efforts to involve and sensitize
young people to the plight of street children, with dozens of
schools and citizens' groups contributing to the events, which
will be covered by NET and ET1 reporters in Greece and all over
the world.
Bank accounts for those wishing to contribute are:
National Bank of Greece: 169/480020-64
Commercial Bank of Greece: 031/80191081
CITIBANK: 5502346484
Agricultural Bank of Greece: 017-04004416-70
[04] UNIONS CALL YESTERDAY'S MASS STRIKE "A SUCCESS"
The country came to a standstill yesterday, as the
Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE), Greece's largest union,
declared a nationwide 24-hour work stoppage in protest to labor
reforms planned by the state.
The strike, which was hailed as a "success" by GSEE, affected
practically all civil service sectors, state-owned utilities,
banks, the post office and even public hospitals. News
organizations and other media also conducted a work stoppage
between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Public transportation came to a halt, although state-run
Olympic Airways conducted one flight per route. Railway employees
and passenger shipping workers also joined the strike.
Keynote rallies were held in Athens, Thessaloniki and other
major cities, while the protests were joined by the Civil Servants
Supreme Administrative Council (ADEDY).
GSEE is demanding the withdrawal of the state's bill on
employment and labor relations, which includes the regulation
concerning the retirement after 35 years of work.
[05] "THESSALONIKI MONEY SHOW 2000" OPENS TOMORROW
Themed after "the new business fields, new employment
opportunities and modern technologies in the sector of waste
management", the Money Show 2000 is set to begin in Thessaloniki
tomorrow.
The two-day conference is held under the auspices of the
Greek-German Chamber of Trade and Industry in cooperation with the
Region of Central Macedonia, the Association of Northern Greek
Industrialists, Organotechnica and Ericsson Hellas.
Featuring a range of financial services with more than 250
speakers appearing at the event's demonstrations and forums, the
conference will also have a presentation of state-of-the-art
technology on waste management and recycling.
To be held at the city's Hyatt Regency Hotel, this year's
Money Show aims to surpass previous attendance records, which
reached more than 10,000 visitors on a per day basis.
According to the organizers, the Thessaloniki Money Show will
also be held abroad as of next year, starting with New York. It
will later take place in London, Frankfurt and Tokyo.
[06] GERMANY TO COMPENSATE NAZI VICTIMS IN GREECE
Germany's "Memory, Responsibility and Future Foundation"
plans to provide compensation to about 5,000 Greeks who were
either taken to concentration camps or had their businesses taken
over by the Nazis during World War II.
Those eligible for the compensation, which ranges from GRD
850,000 to 1.7 million, will have to prove that they were treated
as slaves, human guinea pigs in concentration camps, or had their
businesses taken over during the Third Reich. One of the
eligibility requirements is that applicants have not already
received related compensation.
The German foundation, represented in Athens by the
International Migration Organization (DOM), has already raised one
trillion drachmas and expects to raise another trillion in
donations from companies and individuals who benefited from their
slave labor.
Applicants have to submit their forms for evaluation by
August 11 to DOM's Greek department (6 Dodecanisou St, Ano
Kalamaki, Attica).
So far, DOM has received over 1,000 applications from Greece
and Cyprus. Most of the applicants, aged between 71 and 94, have
asked for damages for working without pay at companies such as BMW
and Siemens. Others were used as human guinea pigs, while there
are two applications from businessmen whose companies were taken
over by the Nazis.
[07] BALKAN MAYORS MEET FOR FRIENDSHIP, COOPERATION
The 1st International Meeting for Friendship and Cooperation
is to get underway in Thessaloniki today, where thirty mayors from
the Balkans will meet to discuss cooperation in culture, tourism
and sports.
Held under the initiative of the Thessaloniki Municipality,
with the aim of creating a Balkan Inter-Municipal Cities Network,
the conference will start at 6:30 p.m. at the city's Macedonia
Palace Hotel.
The conference will be attended by the mayors of large cities
from Greece, Turkey, FYROM, Albania, Romania, Yugoslavia, Croatia,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as by European Commission officials.
The participants will review opportunities of enforcing
policies for the perennial development of Balkan cities, in
relation with the present European reality. Specifically, the
topics of discussion will include common routes for economic
growth through the European Union, transfer of technological know-
how in local administration matters, and cooperation in the
sectors of culture, tourism and sports.
Thessaloniki's Mayor Vasillis Papageorgopoulos will
officially inaugurate the event, while the Mayor of Athens
Dimitris Avramopoulos will also salute the delegates.
[08] PRAYER SERVICE HELD TODAY FOR BRIG. SAUNDERS
A prayer service was held in Athens this morning in memory
of British Brigadier Stephen Saunders who was assassinated last
June by the notorious November 17 terrorist organization.
Public Order Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis and British
Ambassador David Madden laid wreaths this morning near the point
where Brig. Saunders was shot dead.
[09] COMMISSION PROPOSES MARITIME SAFETY MEASURES
Maritime safety was among the topics discussed during the
European Union's Summit Conference in Nice, according to Prime
Minister Costas Simitis, in light of the European Commission's
proposals for tighter controls on maritime traffic and the
creation of a European maritime agency to prevent marine accidents
and disasters.
According to confirmed reports, the Greek government will
fervently support every initiative aimed at protecting the marine
environment, ensuring maritime safety and safeguarding human life
in the sea, all in close cooperation with the European Commission
and the European Presidium and Parliament.
The Commission's proposal calls on all of the EU's 15 member-
states to adhere to new monitoring and standardization of all
seagoing vessels which will be carried out by a new maritime
agency. The said agency will inspect ships to assess whether they
meet EU safety rules, while it will also be responsible for
coordinating accident investigations.
In addition to the agency, the Commission also plans to
introduce the mandatory use of "black boxes", similar to those
used in aircraft, as well as requiring that ships have automatic
transmitters so vessels that are in distress may easily be
located.
A special EU compensation fund is also proposed which would
provide victims of sea-accidents - such as oil spills - access to
restitution of up to one billion euro.
However, EU officials said they expected resistance from the
shipping industry, as well as from oil companies and some EU
member states.
[10] BUSINESS DELEGATION TO VISIT ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT
A large delegation of Greek businessmen, representing trade
and industry chambers from Crete, is to conduct a visit to
Alexandria, Egypt, tomorrow.
According to the chairman of Alexandria's Chamber of Trade
and Industry Moustafa Al Naggar, the size of the Greek delegation
confirms the level of economic collaboration enjoyed by the two
countries. A protocol of bilateral cooperation is expected to be
signed.
[11] GREEK DEFENSE MINISTER TO VISIT FYROM NEXT WEEK
A memorandum of understanding and a military cooperation
agreement will be signed in Skopje on Sunday between the Defense
Ministers of Greece and FYROM, Akis Tsochatzopoulos and Ljuben
Paunoski, respectively.
According to press reports in FYROM, the Greek Defense
Minister will be received by the President of FYROM Boris
Traijkovski on Monday, as well as by the country's Premier Ljubco
Georgievski and new Foreign Minister Srdzan Kerim. Mr.
Tsochatzopoulos will also visit Skopje's military hospital.
The Defense Minister will be accompanied by a delegation of
representatives from the Hellenic Arms Industry who will hold
talks with the dean of FYROM's military academy and will visit the
metal industry of Skopje.
[12] OVER 2,000 TONS OF RICE MISSING FROM FARMING SILOS
Thessaloniki's prosecutor is investigating reports that
2,500 tons of rice are missing from the silos of the city's
Association of Farming Copartnerships, amounting to a loss of 250
million drachmas.
According to local press reports, the massive amount of
missing rice was part of an overall quantity weighing about 45,500
tons which had been amassed since 1997 for the Ministry of
Agriculture for exporting purposes.
According to the report filed with the prosecutor by an
Association board member, the shortage was discovered as soon as
exports were completed last May and was confirmed by Ministry
experts.
[13] EXPRESSION OF INTEREST CALL FOR O.A. STAKE TODAY
An invitation for the expression of interest in the purchase
of a majority stake of Greece's Olympic Airways is expected to be
announced today, amid rumors that the state is looking to sell up
to 60-65% of the ailing air carrier.
The deadline for the tenders is January 30, and all bids
will have to be submitted to Credit Suisse First Boston.
Interested buyers are expected to have the bid reports by the end
of this month.
The next step in the privatization process is expected to
follow in mid-march when Credit Suisse First Boston and the
ministries of National Economy and Transportations are expected
to release the short list and the Privatization Committee will
then select the best offer.
[14] INFLATION WAS AT 4.2% IN NOVEMBER
Inflation was high in November with the consumer prices index
at 4.2%.
However, this increase can not be attributed to the oil price
hikes alone as price increases were recorded and in other sectors
as well such as, cigarettes and alcohol drinks.
[15] MARGINAL LOSSES IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
Marginal losses of 0.15% were recorded in the Athens Stock
Exchange today and the general index was at 3.736,40 points, while
the volume of transactions was at 81.3 billion drachmas.
Of the stocks trading today, 151 recorded gains, 188 had
losses and 25 remained unchanged.
[16] THE CULTURAL ROLE OF THE GREEKS IN PLOVDIV
The Greek language was the dominant language in Plovdiv's
market until the end of the 19th century in spite of the fact that
the Greek community was not large in numbers. The Greeks
controlled, however, most of the craft guilds throughout the 19th
century whenever they had not formed their own in the different
professions according to historian Xanthippi Kotzagiorgis, who
addressed the "Thessaloniki-Plovdiv" Conference organized in
Thessaloniki by the Cultural Society of Businessmen in Northern
Greece.
Ms. Kotzagiorgis pointed out that the Greeks living in the
city were the protagonists in the transformation procedure through
which Plovdiv reached a cosmopolitan economic and spiritual level,
as they controlled most of the retail and wholesale trade as well
as other business activities and the early forms of the industrial
organization and production.
The dynamism of the Greeks was also evident in the sector of
the education of the Greek community children. There were Greek
schools in Plovdiv as early as the late 18th century but a real
education explosion took place in the second and third decade of
the 19th century.
[17] THE 8TH WORLD CONFERENCE OF THE PAN-MACEDONIAN ASSOCIATIONS
WILL BE HELD IN 2001
The preparations for the 8th World Conference of the Pan-
Macedonian Associations and the 55th Conference of the US-Canada
Pan-Macedonian Associations continue at a quick pace. The
conferences will be held at the "Alexander the Great" Foundation
in Litochoro, northern Greece on July 12 -16.
Already, the organizing committee members had contacts with
Greek government officials to brief them on the planning and the
course of the conferences that are expected to make the "Alexander
the Great" Foundation a reference point for the young Greeks
living abroad and for the Greeks of the Diaspora in general.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[18] THE GREEK LANGUAGE WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE ITALIAN HIGH
SCHOOLS EXAM MATERIAL
The Greek language will be included in the exam material on
which the Italian high school students will be tested.
According to Italian press reports, the Greek language will
be the second course on which the classical studies' high school
students will be tested in the maturita diploma finals.
[19] US INTEREST IN HOLDING A MELINA MERCOURI FESTIVAL
Washington's National Gallery has expressed interest in
holding a film festival dedicated to Melina Mercouri in the fall
of 2001 to take place within the framework of the presentation
under the title "Dynamic Women". The American interest was
expressed after a proposal by the Greek embassy in Washington.
Meanwhile, the Greek embassy considers holding supplementary
events dedicated to Melina Mercouri that can take place during the
festival such as, a symposium on the Parthenon Marbles and a photo
exhibition.
[20] A GREEK BUSINESSMAN WAS HONORED FOR HIS CONTRIBUTION TO THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUNGARIAN ECONOMY
Greek businessman Panos Zeritis, president of the Greek
industry group under the same name to which Hungary's largest
paper industry "RISZKEY" belongs, was honored with the Golden
Cross of the Officers medal in Budapest yesterday.
This important distinction is awarded to personalities of an
international prestige and was delivered to Mr. Zeritis by the
Hungarian president.
The distinction was awarded to the Greek businessman for his
contribution to the development of the Hungarian economy, his very
positive participation in the privatization process and his
meaningful contribution to the strengthening of the Greek-
Hungarian relations.
[21] THE "15" ARE SATISFIED WITH THE AGREEMENT ON THE EU-TURKEY
PARTNERSHIP RELATION
The leaders of the European Union attending the EU Summit
meeting in Nice, France expressed their satisfaction for the
agreement on the EU-Turkey partnership relation and called on
Ankara to present to the European Commission its plan for its
adjustment to the European standards.
Greek prime minister Kostas Simitis clarified that the EU-
Turkey partnership relation text is a framework in which Turkey
must move in its effort to make the necessary adjustments for its
EU candidature to be promoted.
Mr. Simitis expressed Greece's satisfaction because in the
Nice Summit conclusions' text the European Council reaffirms its
support to the efforts made by the UN secretary-general for the
solution of the Cyprus problem. Also, all parties involved are
called to assist in the solution of the problem.
[22] SIMITIS' PRESS CONFERENCE IN NICE, FRANCE
Greek prime minister Kostas Simitis in a press conference he
gave in Nice, France today referred to a number of important
issues that were discussed in the European Council.
Speaking about western Balkans, the prime minister stated
that the European Council in Nice offers to the countries in the
region a prospect of participation in the EU and added that there
will be no border changes in the region.
Mr. Simitis also said that the EU undertakes its own
initiatives concerning the rapid intervention force and promotes
the issue with its own means in consultation with NATO. He also
said that the EU has its own foreign and defense policy and its
own means to promote those policies.
The prime minister stated that the "15" assessed the progress
made in the Balkan issues and added that the comments made on the
conclusions reached in the Zagreb Summit between the EU and the
western Balkan states were positive. He said that the EU gives an
emphasis to the support of democracy, regional cooperation, the
easing of the tensions, the implementation of international law
and the inviolability of the existing borders.
Meanwhile, the developments in Nice are dramatic. The
afternoon meeting of the EU leaders was canceled as a result of
the strong differences in their views concerning the Inter-
governmental conference, while the formal dinner was also
canceled. French president Jacques Chirac, who is presiding in the
European Council, undertook to meet separately with each one of
the 14 European leaders in an effort to reach a settlement.
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