Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2001-01-08
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, January 8, 2001
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
TITLES
[01] SPORTS AND THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN THE DIGITAL ERA
[02] GREEK WOMAN ECO-ACTIVIST TO BE TRIED TODAY
[03] GREEK ARMY OFFICIALS, HEALTH EXPERTS IN BOSNIA
[04] GREEK FORCES SAID TO USE DEPLETED URANIUM AMMO
[05] MINISTER: NO TROOPS TO BE WITHDRAWN AS OF NOW
[06] THE RADIATION LEVELS HAVE NOT INCREASED IN GREECE
[07] THE LOSSES CONTINUE IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
[08] TELECONFERENCE OF THE FOREIGN MINISTERS OF GREECE AND SWEDEN
ON THE "BALKANS SYNDROME"
[09] REPPAS: THE STATEMENTS MADE BY THE TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER
ARE UNACCEPTABLE
[10] STATEMENTS BY MR. REPPAS ON THE "BALKANS SYNDROME"
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[11] "GREEK" VACCINE AGAINST MENINGITIS
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] SPORTS AND THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN THE DIGITAL ERA
A seminar titled "Sports and the Olympic Games in the Digital
Era" is to get underway in Athens today, organized by the Athens
News Agency (ANA) in its capacity as term president of the
Association of Balkan News Agencies (ABNA).
The purpose of the seminar/workshop will be to develop
conditions for joint coverage of the Athens Games by ABNA members
as well as to provide constant, reliable and the adequate news
gathering for subscribers in the region. Held at the Divani-
Caravel Hotel in downtown Athens, the event will feature the
participation of the general directors and 25 other officials from
the ABNA member agencies - including the Macedonian Press Agency -
from Albania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Greece, Moldova, FYROM,
Romania and Turkey, as well as from Australia, venue of the recent
2000 Games.
Greece's Special Secretary for the Olympic Games 2004, Mr.
Kostas Kartalis will address the seminar, while Athens 2004
Olympics coordinating committee (ATHOC) President Gianna
Angelopoulos-Daskalaki will be the keynote speaker at today's
official luncheon.
Speakers at the two-day seminar include the chief of the
Sports Department at the French news agency AFP Jean-Pierre
Gallois, the Australian news agency AAP's organiser of the Sydney
Olympic Games coverage John Coomber, the deputy head of the sports
desk at German news agency DPA Hans-Mermann Madler, the sports
editor at Britain's Press Association (PA) Andy Elliott, the
assignment manager and chief photographer at EPA (European
Photographic Agency) Anja Niedringhaus, and ATHOC press office
director Serapheim Kotrotsos.
Tomorrow afternoon, ABNA will hold its annual General
Assembly.
ABNA was established in June 1995, during a meeting of Balkan
news agency directors in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki,
where the association's archives are housed.
[02] GREEK WOMAN ECO-ACTIVIST TO BE TRIED TODAY
A Greek woman ecologist and member of the international
organization Greenpeace is to appear before a court in Oakland,
New Zealand today, facing obstruction charges after trying to
prevent a ship from unloading genetically modified food for
animals.
Athina Labrinidou, an anthropologist successfully stopped a
merchant ship outside the port of Oakland last week when she
scrambled up the ship's anchor as her colleagues commandeered
cranes and other parts of the vessel, delaying its entry to the
port for hours.
An anthropologist, Ms. Labrinidou is the only Greek woman to
have ever served on Greenpeace's trademark vessel "Rainbow
Warrior". Since 1996 she has been living with the Maori tribe.
She is also the sister of Stavros Labrinidis, a former
Overseas Hellenism secretary general and the current general
director of the Olympic Truce Center.
[03] GREEK ARMY OFFICIALS, HEALTH EXPERTS IN BOSNIA
A complement of Greek general staff officers and medical
experts will be traveling to Bosnia and Kosovo today, in order to
examine an estimated 1,500 Greek soldiers assigned to the KFOR
peacekeeping force stationed in that area.
National Defense Minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos has sent a
letter to NATO and the European Union asking the promotion of
methods of protection of the populations of the Balkan countries
from the bombing in Serbia and to examine the repercussions on the
environment and human health.
Mr. Tsochatzopoulos met yesterday with the leader of the main
opposition party of New Democracy Costas Karamanlis and the
party's regional head on Foreign Affairs Dora Bakoyanni whom he
briefed on the issue.
Mr. Tsochatzopoulos stressed that in case the scientific
group found there was a problem, all necessary measures would be
taken, without ruling out the withdrawal of the Greek force from
peacekeeping troops.
Mr. Karamanlis agreed with Mr. Tsohatzopoulos on this
position, albeit adding that the government was responsible for
the situation and called on the Prime Minister to brief the
Parliament on the issue. He also called on the government to
undertake initiatives on an international level.
[04] GREEK FORCES SAID TO USE DEPLETED URANIUM AMMO
The Greek armed forces are equipped with depleted uranium
ammunition which have been used during military exercises in the
Aegean and Ionian seas, according to press reports.
As the Athens dailies "Ta Nea" and "To Ethnos" reported, the
United States have provided Greece with 50,000 such shells, 40,000
of which have been used in maneuvers, and the remaining 10,000 are
in storage. Also, according to data provided by non-governmental
organizations, Turkey also has ammunition with depleted uranium.
Greece's Minister of National Defense Akis Tsochatzopoulos
has reportedly ordered an inquiry into the matter.
Depleted uranium shells were mainly used by NATO aircraft in
western Kosovo.
[05] MINISTER: NO TROOPS TO BE WITHDRAWN AS OF NOW
Greek armed forces stationed in Bosnia and Kosovo are not to
be withdrawn as of now, since their presence in that region serves
the achievement of peace and Greece's viable interest, according
to the Minister of National Defense Akis Tsochatzopoulos.
In an interview with the Athens radio station "Flash FM", Mr.
Tsochatzopoulos stated that if new studies reveal a health
problem, then all military forces participating in the SFOR and
KFOR peacekeeping missions will be withdrawn.
According to the Minister, political and military motives may
be hidden behind the "Balkans syndrome" scare that has erupted
throughout Europe. He added that he has requested that the Greek
Parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee convene in
order to conduct a briefing session.
Moreover, he pointed out that there has been no evidence to
date that the use of depleted uranium shells has any correlation
to health problems.
As for the Greek solider who served in Bosnia and was treated
at Thessaloniki's military hospital for leukemia, Mr.
Tsochatzopoulos stated that an average of 12 outbreaks of the
disease are diagnosed annually in the Greek armed forces.
Moreover, regarding press reports that the Greek forces were
supplied with depleted uranium ammunition in the early 90s, Mr.
Tsochatzopoulos stated that the military had 50,000 of such shells
(of a smaller diameter than those used in Yugoslavia), 40,000 of
which were used, but not detonated, and are presently laying in
the Aegean's seabed.
Half of the remaining 10,000 are presently aboard two vessels
and Mr. Tsochatzopoulos stated that he has ordered their
relocation to a military depot where they will be tested and
destroyed if found to contain radioactive material. As for the
shells already used during maneuvers, Mr. Tsochatzopoulos said
that it is not known if they constitute a source of radioactivity.
Moreover, Mr. Tsochatzopoulos stated that his counterparts
from Italy and Belgium have told him there is no evidence that the
deaths of soldiers stricken with leukemia are due to the "Balkans
Syndrome".
[06] THE RADIATION LEVELS HAVE NOT INCREASED IN GREECE
The radiation levels in Greece have not changed in the past
two years, according to professor Nikolaos Mousiopoulos in
Thessaloniki's Aristotle University mechanical engineering and
mechanics department.
Regarding the effects in Greece as a result of the release of
radioactive and toxic material during the NATO bombing of
Yugoslavia, Mr. Mousiopoulos clarified that based on the studies
and measurements made in the region no considerable quantities of
radioactive and toxic elements have ended up in Greece and any
assertion made to the contrary is scientifically unfounded and it
is aimed only at impressing the public.
[07] THE LOSSES CONTINUE IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
New losses were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today
and the general index dropped to 2.27% at 3.145,02 points, while
the volume of transactions was 36,203 billion drachmas, or 106,24
million Euro.
Of the stocks trading today, only 19 recorded gains, 330 had
losses, while the value of 23 stocks remained unchanged.
[08] TELECONFERENCE OF THE FOREIGN MINISTERS OF GREECE AND SWEDEN
ON THE "BALKANS SYNDROME"
The issue of the "Balkans Syndrome" was the main topic in the
teleconference held this morning by foreign ministers of Greece
and Sweden, Giorgos Papandreou and Anna Lint. The effects of the
NATO bombings of Yugoslavia on the region's environment concerns
strongly all the EU members and already a team of Greek
specialists have arrived in Kosovo.
Mr. Papandreou called on the Swedish EU presidency to bring
the "Balkans Syndrome" issue up for discussion in the General
Affairs Council that will meet on January 22, pointing out the
need for coordinated efforts by the EU member-states in order to
solve this serious problem.
Meanwhile, NATO's military leadership will brief the military
and political directors of the alliance's member-states. Greece,
Italy and Portugal from their side will coordinate their efforts
to examine all aspects of the problem.
Greek foreign ministry spokesman Panos Beglitis stated that
there is understanding and very good cooperation with the ministry
of defense concerning the measures that need to be taken for the
protection of the Greek soldiers and students in the region of
Yugoslavia. He added that Greece had raised the environmental
effects issue to the EU and NATO and was opposed to the NATO
bombings of Yugoslavia to which it did not participate.
[09] REPPAS: THE STATEMENTS MADE BY THE TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER
ARE UNACCEPTABLE
Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas characterized as
"unacceptable" the statements made by Turkish foreign minister
Ismail Cem, who said that Turkey can even go as far as the total
annexation of the occupied territories in case Cyprus becomes a
European Union member before the Cyprus issue is resolved.
The Greek government spokesman added that if Turkey makes
such a decision and is not for tactic reasons it will mean that it
does not want to become a member of Europe and it abandons its
European prospect.
[10] STATEMENTS BY MR. REPPAS ON THE "BALKANS SYNDROME"
The government deals in a serious manner and with a sense of
responsibility with the "Balkans Syndrome" problem and will
undertake any necessary initiative, stated today Greek government
spokesman Dimitris Reppas.
He said that Greece has undertaken all necessary measures and
will escalate its actions toward this direction aimed at the
protection of the health of the Greek citizens, stressing that the
government deals with the specific issue with the utmost
sensitivity. He suggested caution when dealing with the issue to
avoid the creation of a "panic and hysteria syndrome", as he
stated characteristically.
Mr. Reppas stated that the scenarios on a radioactive cloud
over Greece are mere speculations and gave the assurance that the
measurements made in the border regions do not justify panic as
they showed that there is no radiation increase.
On the issue of the withdrawal of the Greek peacekeeping
forces, he responded that no decision on their withdrawal can be
reached without any data justifying this move. Regarding the use
of depleted uranium shells by the Greek Navy, the government
spokesman stated that in 1990 the Greek Navy bought 50.000 such
shells and 35.000 of them were used in sea exercises. Mr. Reppas
said that 10.000 shells were stored and 5.000 of them are kept in
two ships. An order has been given for them to be withdrawn, while
an investigation has been ordered to determine if there were any
problems.
Responding to relevant questions, Mr. Reppas stated that
Greece from the first moment had expressed its concerns to the UN
and the EU over the likely effects the NATO bombings of Yugoslavia
would have on the environment and public health. He also
reiterated that Greece was against the war in Yugoslavia and in
favor of a peaceful solution.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[11] "GREEK" VACCINE AGAINST MENINGITIS
The discovery of Greek-Cypriot professor George Kassianos
will bring radical changes to the world medical community. The
distinguished scientist, who is the representative of Britain's
General Physicians Royal College, created the vaccine against
meningitis C.
According to professor George Kassianos, at least 50 young
people have been saved thanks to the new vaccine, while the
British Health Ministry has pointed out that the disease has
almost disappeared in the past 12 months due to the vaccinations.
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