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Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2001-06-14
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, June 14, 2001
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
TITLES
[Á] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] GREEK-EGYPTIANS ASSOCIATION MEETS TOMORROW
[02] JOURNALISTS HOLD CONFERENCE IN SAMOTHRACE
[03] AIRLINE STAFF DECLARE 3 STRIKES: JUNE 15, 29, 30
[04] EU-NATO DEFENSE COOPERATION YES, DEADLOCKS NO
[05] GREEK PM: PRESERVE EXISTING BALKAN BORDERS
[06] US, GREECE SIGN CTA FOR MILITARY PERSONNEL
[07] ALIEN LEGALIZATION SPURS INFLOW OF ALBANIANS
[08] GREECE REFUTES REPORT OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH
[09] SORROW, CONCERN OVER GREEK MONK'S KILLING
[10] OLYMPICS BUDGET SET AT 1.5 TRILLION DRACHMAS
[11] MINISTER: AEGEAN WON'T BE TURNED INTO A JUNGLE
[12] WESTERN POLICY CENTER TO US: SUPPORT G/T TIES
[13] OTE: THE CONVERTIBLE BOND OPENS THE DOOR TO STRATEGIC
ASSOCIATES
[14] KARAMANLIS-GEORGIEVSKI COMMUNICATION
[15] A SIMITIS-BUSH MEETING IS POSSIBLE
[16] LOSSES IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
[17] MOUSCHOURI AND MILVA IN THE OLYMPUS FESTIVAL
[18] HITIRIS ON UCK'S ACTIVITIES IN GREECE
[19] THE GREEK PLAN IS IN THE TRAJKOVSKI PROPOSALS
[20] ALBANIAN BUSINESS MISSION IN THESSALONIKI
[21] MEETING ON THE HOTEL INFRASTRUCTURE
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[22] ALBANIAN REBELS SAID TO SUFFER FROM CCHF
[23] SPIROS KIPRIANOU UNDERGOES RADIOTHERAPY
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] GREEK-EGYPTIANS ASSOCIATION MEETS TOMORROW
The Association of Greek-Egyptians is to hold its third world
congress in Athens on June 15-17, in a conference entitled "Greek-
Egyptian: Cultural Activity - Historical Presence and
Perspective".
The event is to be held under the auspices of the Patriarch
of Alexandria and All of Africa Petros, as well as Greece's
General Secretariat of Greeks Abroad and the Ministry of Culture.
The conference will aim at highlighting the multiform
presence and activities of Greeks from Egypt who continue to
distinguish themselves in all sectors of social, economic and
cultural life.
[02] JOURNALISTS HOLD CONFERENCE IN SAMOTHRACE
The ninth annual conference of Greek journalists is to begin
today, at the northeastern Aegean island of Samothraki.
The four-day event, themed "Power and the Mass Media", is
jointly organized by the local municipality, the Prefecture
Administration of Evros, the ministry of press and mass media, the
ministry of Macedonia-Thrace and journalists' unions.
[03] AIRLINE STAFF DECLARE 3 STRIKES: JUNE 15, 29, 30
The federation of airline employees, OSYPA, has announced
that it will conduct a 24-hour strike tomorrow, followed by a 48-
hour strike on June 29 and 30.
Their demands include the signing of a collective labor
agreement, higher bonuses and more hirings.
[04] EU-NATO DEFENSE COOPERATION YES, DEADLOCKS NO
While NATO leaders unanimously agreed that the European Union
needs to establish its own defense in cooperation with the
Alliance, dissenting opinions as to the approach were expressed
during the Special Summit held in Brussels yesterday.
Greece's Premier Costas Simitis stated that it is necessary
to decide on its defense in cooperation with NATO, albeit adding
that this cooperation should not lead to deadlocks in decision-
making.
Moreover, he added that the view that the European Union
should have its own apparatuses for implementing its decisions was
met positively.
Referring to the anti-missile protection system being
promoted by the Bush Administration, the Greek Premier stated that
it should not lead to the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction.
[05] GREEK PM: PRESERVE EXISTING BALKAN BORDERS
The need to preserve the existing borders in the Balkan
region was stressed by Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis before
the NATO Special Summit in Brussels yesterday, while, referring to
the FYROM crisis, he underlined the need for negotiations that
will lead to a consensual solution.
The PM also expressed support for strengthening the presence
of NATO and the European Union in the region, while he stressed
the need for "sealing FYROM's borders with Kosovo", as well as the
restriction of the activities of expatriated Albanians who support
extremist organizations in FYROM.
Furthermore, Mr. Simitis pointed out that the Greek plan on a
"speedy dialogue" for a solution to the crisis has been accepted
by Skopje and was adopted during the NATO Special Summit.
The Greek plan anticipates intensive consultations for a
solution to basic issues in the region in a period of ten days.
[06] US, GREECE SIGN CTA FOR MILITARY PERSONNEL
A Comprehensive Technical Agreement (CTA) concerning the
status of U.S. military personnel in Greece and Greek military
personnel in the US, was signed by Greek Foreign Minister George
Papandreou and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in Brussels
yesterday, on the sidelines of NATO's Special Summit.
According to a US Embassy press release, the signing of the
CTA "is a major step forward in the two countries' military
relationship.
"The agreement consolidates, clarifies and updates provisions of
numerous bilateral agreements that supplemented the NATO Status of
Forces Agreement and the Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement of
1990. It coincides with vastly expanded military arms transfers
and training between the two militaries during the last three
years. With the signing of the CTA, U.S.-Greek military ties are
stronger than at any time in recent memory."
[07] ALIEN LEGALIZATION SPURS INFLOW OF ALBANIANS
As thousands of undocumented foreigners in Greece have
already scurried to apply for residency through a "second chance"
program enacted by the Interior Ministry, immigrant smuggling is
thriving in Albania, where organized rings are trying to take
advantage of the legalization period that ends on August 2.
According to the Albanian daily "Koha Jon", which quotes
sources from both the Gjirocaster (Albania) and Ioannina (Greece)
police departments, the number of illegal immigrants presently
residing in border-situated villages surpasses that of the local
population.
According to the Interior Ministry's program, aliens eligible
for acquiring a residence and temporary work permit must have
completed at least one year of residency in Greece by June 2, when
the new immigration legislation became enforceable.
[08] GREECE REFUTES REPORT OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH
The Greek embassy in Ankara has refuted a Turkish press
report that an Italian-flagged research vessel was conducting
geophysical research in the Aegean on Greece's behalf.
In a statement forwarded to Turkey's Anadolu news agency, the
Greek embassy stressed that the vessel in question, the
"Sentinel", has been carrying out survey work in the Aegean since
May 23 "with the sole purpose of checking out the condition of
existing telecom cable nodules and the possibility of laying
additional fiber optic cables, from Attica towards Thessaloniki
and in the Mirtoon Sea to Crete."
According to the Embassy's press attache Grigoris Arzoglou,
the said vessel's surveys are being conducted under the
supervision of Greece's state-run telecommunicationss organization
OTE, and will be completed by June 21.
"It is clear, therefore, that the work carried out by the
‘Sentinel' is totally unrelated to any ‘geophysical studies in
international waters', as mentioned in Anadolu's dispatch," Mr.
Arzoglou said.
[09] SORROW, CONCERN OVER GREEK MONK'S KILLING
Greece's Foreign Ministry has expressed its deepest sorrow
and great concern at the revolting murder of Father Germanos, the
abbot of the Greek Orthodox Monastery of St. George, who was shot
by snipers near an Israeli army checkpoint on Tuesday.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Panos Beglitis stated that "we
appeal to all sides to take all the required measures for the
arrest of those responsible for the crime and to bring them to
justice."
Father Germanos, 34, originally called George Tsibouktsakis,
came to Israel in 1990 from Thessaloniki, and had lived for the
past 11 years in the remote St. George's Monastery in Wadi Kelt in
the West Bank.
He was shot as he was driving from Jerusalem to his desert
monastery near the West Bank town of Jericho. His car had Israeli
license plates, which suggests that the attackers thought he was
Israeli.
[10] OLYMPICS BUDGET SET AT 1.5 TRILLION DRACHMAS
The state budget for the Athens 2004 Olympics Games has been
set at 1.5 trillion drachmas (one euro equals 340.750 drachmas),
following a meeting between the ministers of National Economy and
Finance Yiannos Papantoniou and of Culture Evangelos Venizelos.
The funds are to be primarily derived from the Third
Community Support Framework (3rd CSF), as well as from state
resources.
The finalized version of the budget is to be ratified next
week by the Cabinet.
[11] MINISTER: AEGEAN WON'T BE TURNED INTO A JUNGLE
"The PASOK government will not allow the Aegean Sea to be
transformed into a jungle," Minister of Merchant Marine Christos
Papoustis stated in Parliament yesterday, adding that the state
will not permit economic interests to hold the islanders hostage.
In a House debate on the deregulation of passenger shipping,
Mr. Papoutsis outlined the Ministry's draft bill, which aims at
opening up Greek routes to competition, thereby allowing for
greater state intervention. The bill also calls for the
establishment of a ports and port policy general secretariat and
the conversion of port authorities into SA companies.
The draft legislation sets the framework for the coastal
shipping sector after Greece allows foreign competition on local
routes as of October 31, 2002.
While the EU deadline was January 1, 2004, the ministry
expedited the end of cabotage following the sinking of the Express
Samina ferry last September, and took a number of measures aimed
at achieving greater security.
[12] WESTERN POLICY CENTER TO US: SUPPORT G/T TIES
The United States should actively support the rapprochement
of Greek-Turkish relations, Western Policy Center's executive
director John Sitilides stated during his testimony before the US
House of Representatives committee on foreign affairs'
subcommittee on Europe.
According to a dispatch from the "Voice of America", Mr.
Sitilides was one among three experts who participated in a house
debate on US policy in the eastern Mediterranean and the handling
of relations with Greece, Turkey and Cyprus.
In addition to Mr. Sitilides, the discussion included
testimonies by RAND independent think-tank analyst Ian Lesser, and
former US State Department Special Coordinator for Cyprus (in the
early 1990s) Nelson Ledsky.
Mr. Sitilides said that, after a gradual re-determination of
its national interests, Greece had, in the past decade, developed
very good relations with the US, while he also referred to
Greece's positive role in the Balkans, the country's economic
growth and the increased attention given by the Greek government
to confronting terrorism.
In regards to the course of the Greek-Turkish rapprochement
and the need for a Cyprus solution, Mr. Sitilides stressed the
need for continued US involvement in the efforts for a Cyprus
solution but also US encouragement of Turkey's accession to the EU
and promotion of a dialogue with the Greek and Turkish armed
forces aiming at a reduction of their arms stockpiles.
[13] OTE: THE CONVERTIBLE BOND OPENS THE DOOR TO STRATEGIC
ASSOCIATES
A 15% of the Greek Telecommunications Organization, OTE,
will come to the hands of a foreign strategic associate in the
future as this part of the company will be offered by the Greek
state through the issuing of a convertible bond.
However, in order for this likelihood to become a reality a
sine qua non precondition is the improvement of the situation in
the international telecommunications market, according to OTE
managing director Mr. Nikolaos Manasis in an interview with MPA.
OTE's investment planning will focus on mobile phone
companies as far as the southeastern European markets are
concerned said Mr. Manasis, adding that no new investments will be
made in domestic phone networks. Mr. Manasis stated that this
strategy has an immediate implementation in the Balkans where the
organization's investments are targeting a specific geographic
region of 65 million consumers.
Within this framework, OTE will seek to acquire an additional
15% of the Romanian Telecommunications Organization, ROMTELECOM,
while it examines the likelihood to increase its participation in
the COSMOROM mobile phone company. For the record, OTE has bought
out 35% of ROMTELECOM and has its management.
Meanwhile, any decisions on the organization's investment
planning in the Serb market will be made by the end of 2001. Also,
OTE examines the likelihood to invest in the Turkish mobile phone
market where exploratory contacts are already being made.
[14] KARAMANLIS-GEORGIEVSKI COMMUNICATION
A request for international military intervention in FYROM
was expressed by the country's prime minister Ljupco Georgievski
in a telephone communication he had with Greek right-wing main
opposition party of New Democracy leader Kostas Karamanlis, who is
in Gothenburg, Sweden to attend the European Popular Party summit
meeting.
Mr. Georgievski referred to the role of the peacekeeping
force (KFOR) in Kosovo, stressing that apart from guarding the
FYROM-Kosovo borders it can undertake to maintain order.
[15] A SIMITIS-BUSH MEETING IS POSSIBLE
Greek undersecretary of press and acting government spokesman
Tilemachos Hitiris did not rule out the likelihood of a meeting
between Greek prime minister Kostas Simitis and US president
George Bush to be held on the sidelines of the EU summit meeting
in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Mr. Hitiris stated that such a meeting is not scheduled to
take place but short meetings of leaders are usually being held on
the sidelines of the summit.
[16] LOSSES IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
Significant losses were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange
today. The general index dropped to -1.58% at 2.853,55 points,
while the volume of transactions was 165.72 million Euro or 56.46
billion drachmas.
Of the stocks trading today, the majority namely , 284 had
losses and 57 recorded gains, while 40 stocks remained stable.
[17] MOUSCHOURI AND MILVA IN THE OLYMPUS FESTIVAL
The Olympus Festival celebrates its 30th year taking up a
more musical rather than theatrical character with the
participation in its events this year of leading names from the
world of music such as, Nana Mouschouri, Giorgos Dalaras, Haroula
Alexiou and Italian singer Milva.
The festival will open on July 8 with a concert by Nana
Mouschouri and will close on September 1.
Starting next year, the festival will attempt an opening to
the Balkans and already a meeting is scheduled to take place with
directors of other Balkan festivals for the signing of a
cooperation protocol.
[18] HITIRIS ON UCK'S ACTIVITIES IN GREECE
The Greek authorities know everything on anything that takes
place in Greece and take all necessary measures, stated acting
government spokesman Tilemachos Hitiris responding to the question
if the security authorities are aware of the alleged UCK
activities in Greece and the information concerning fund-raising
campaigns that are allegedly being held.
Mr. Hitiris refused to respond to the question concerning the
measures that are being taken by the Greek authorities, stating
that this is the responsibility of the authorities, while he added
that certain measures are confidential.
[19] THE GREEK PLAN IS IN THE TRAJKOVSKI PROPOSALS
The plan that was presented in the NATO summit meeting in
Brussels yesterday by the Greek government, concerning the
handling of the crisis in FYROM, was included in FYROM president
Trajkovski's proposals that will be put into effect, stated
undersecretary of press and acting government spokesman Tilemachos
Hitiris when he was asked if the Greek plan was accepted by the
rest EU members.
The undersecretary of press also stated that a meeting of the
FYROM political party leaders will be held in Ochrid today to
decide on the procedure that will be followed, while comprehensive
talks will be held on June 20-24 and for this purpose NATO
secretary-general George Robertson and European joint foreign
policy and policy of defense chief Javier Solana will visit
Skopje.
[20] ALBANIAN BUSINESS MISSION IN THESSALONIKI
A large business delegation from the Commerce and Industry
Chamber in the city of Lezhe in Albania will visit Thessaloniki's
Commerce and Industry Chamber on June 19 for contacts with local
businessmen.
The members of the Albanian delegation are mainly interested
in the import and trade of building materials, while they also
have expressed interest in the construction of public and private
buildings.
[21] MEETING ON THE HOTEL INFRASTRUCTURE
The issue of hotel infrastructure in the region of Athens,
which is necessary to cover the hospitality needs in the Athens
2004 Olympic Games, was discussed in the meeting held today in the
ministry of environment, public works and land planning with the
participation of minister Kostas Laliotis, culture minister
Evangelos Venizelos, minister of development Nikos
Christodoulakis, representatives of "Athens 2004" organizing
committee and hotel owners.
The hotel owners' representatives pointed out that the Athens
2004 needs can be covered by the existing hotel units if their
upgrading proceeds. They also expressed the wish that the presence
of foreign business groups in Greece will be limited.
In addition, the government ministers mentioned above had a
meeting with "Athens 2004" representatives and the committee that
has undertaken the Olympic village construction.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[22] ALBANIAN REBELS SAID TO SUFFER FROM CCHF
Albanian rebels located at the village of Aracinovo
reportedly suffer from Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), as
visibly attested by photographs maintained by FYROM's secret
service agents.
According to the Skopje daily "Dnevnik", these rebels
infiltrated Skopje from Kosovo, where CCHF breakouts have already
resulted in the deaths of four individuals, while 27 others are
being treated in various hospitals.
Skopje's Infectious Diseases Clinic has warned that CCHF
could easily be transmitted into FYROM, given the high number of
locals who travel back and forth to Kosovo.
As of last week, the World Health Organization had confirmed
20 cases of the rare disease in Kosovo, although the number of
breakouts has to climb to 50 before WHO intervenes.
CCHF is a viral disease that strikes both humans and animals.
In humans, CCHF appears suddenly with symptoms similar to those of
influenza, followed by a rash. Hemorrhage, which does not occur in
all cases and can be more severe in some and less in others,
begins on or about the fourth day and continues for about two
weeks. The fatality rate is from 2-50%.
In animals, the disease takes the form of mild fever and
viremia in sheep, cattle and small mammals such as hares. A
vaccine exists, but the most widespread form of control is the use
of anti-tick solutions into which animals are literally dipped – a
practice that causes extreme trauma and must be repeated regularly
to be effective.
[23] SPIROS KIPRIANOU UNDERGOES RADIOTHERAPY
Cypriot health minister Frixos Savidis stated today that the
doctors treating former Cypriot president Spiros Kiprianou are
trying to trace back the course of the metastatic cancer that was
diagnosed at the right side of his pelvis.
When he was asked to comment on the state of Mr. Kiprianou's
health, Mr. Savidis stated that he expects more information today
and added that Mr. Kiprianou undergoes the advisable radiotherapy
treatment.
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