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Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2001-08-22
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, August 22, 2001
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] GENOA LAWSUITS
[02] CONFRONTATIONS ON ID CARDS
[03] TSOHATZOPOULOS - KONSTANTOPOULOS MEETING
[04] FYROM FOREIGN SECRETARY IN ATHENS
[05] CLUB MED DROWNING
[06] PAPANTONIOU: WE CAN SUPPORT THE LOW INCOMES
[07] THE HELLENIC OLYMPIC COMMITTEE RECEIVED 3 MILLION USD FROM
"ATHENS 2004"
[08] 35 BILLION AGAINST UNEMPLOYMENT
[09] SIMITIS-MITREVA MEETING IN ATHENS TOMORROW
[10] GAINS RECORDED IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
[11] THE GERMANS PREFER CRETE FOR THEIR VACATIONS
[12] 14 SHARKS WERE CAUGHT IN RETHIMNO, CRETE
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] GENOA LAWSUITS
Charges have been pressed against any and all responsible
Italian police officers for the incident that occurred in Angona
on July 18 - when Greek protesters upon reaching the Italian
harbor heading for Genoa, were stopped before they could disembark
- by the Athens District Attorney's Office.
Charges were pressed by 53-year-old pharmacist Theodoros
Dritsas, who was among the protesters injured on the exit ramp of
the "Bluestar 2" ferry.
District Attorney Panagiotis Aggelopoulos, pressed charges,
the offenses being extended illegal detainment , extended and
unprovoked physical damages, and were pressed against any and all
Italian officers, as well as well as against the moral perpetrator
of the physical damages.
The preliminary investigation will be taken over by the Patra
Coast Guard.
[02] CONFRONTATIONS ON ID CARDS
Intense reactions on the government's side were caused by
Archbishop Christodoulos' comments on the ID card issue. The
governmental spokesperson Mr. Dimitris Reppas characteristically
repeated yesterday, that the case of the ID cards is closed after
the decision of State Council and that citizens elect governments,
while the Church has a spiritual and not a political role.
Archbishop of Athens and all of Greece, Christodoulos, had
asked why the government would not reevaluate its decision on the
ID card issue, especially after three million votes had been
gathered. The Archbishop compared the situation to the issue that
had risen years before with compulsory civil marriage, which
Andreas Papandreou, then Prime Minister, had supported, but made
optional after the reaction of the church and people.
Mr. Christodoulos is also going to reveal the exact number of
signatures collected on the 28th of August, something which caused
more reactions, this time from the Archbishop of Zakynthos,
Chrysostomos.
Archbishop Chrysostomos made mention of a communicational
trick. "In a country where we can have the results in a day, we've
been toying with this for a year. First we set one date, then
another. What have we got to announce? What don't we know and is
going to be announced? So why is all this happening, if not as a
communicational trick", he said characteristically.
"We are pursuing something which no longer exists, after the
decision of the State Council, where a law cannot be passed", he
added.
[03] TSOHATZOPOULOS - KONSTANTOPOULOS MEETING
The President of the Coalition, Nikos Konstantopoulos, was
brought up to date on the FYROM issues by the Minister of National
Defense, Akis Tsohatzopoulos, in a meeting they had in the
Pentagon.
Mr. Konstantopoulos repeated that the Coalition's position is
that Greece should not be involved in the FYROM crisis by sending
military forces, because, as he stressed, the dangers are
increased and the peace treaty is safe.
In statements after the meeting, Mr. Konstantopoulos stressed
that "NATO interference in the Balkans with the cooperation of the
EU, substitutes the UN and has destabilizing consequences on all
the area of SE Europe".
"NATO is using the armed UCK extremists as a vehicle for the
transference of tensions and crises to the interior of all Balkan
countries", said Mr. Konstantopoulos and added: "For this reason,
NATO initially arms them and then calls them to voluntarily turn
in their arms, after having in the meanwhile upgraded them to
political discussants".
With the great Greek Turkish folk concert of Farantouri,
Livaneli, and Panagioti Karadimitri, which will be framed by the
Mikis Theodorakis Folk Orchestra, will on the night of the 26th
officially kick off the events of the Balkan Plaza which is
organized by the Municipality of Neapoli. This year's guest of
honor is Mikis Theodorakis who has been invited to the concert. It
should be noted that Mr. Theodorakis will be made honorary citizen
of the Municipality of Neapoli by the Neapoli Municipality Council
for his important cultural and social offer and his contribution
to the approach and friendship of Balkan people.
The official commencement of the Balkan Plaza events on Greek
ground will begin with torch-light procession of peace, which
will proceed the concert, in which the Culture Minister of Albania
and Bosnia-Herzegovina, the mayors of Kousantasi, Pancevo,
Prijedor, spokespersons from the Culture Ministries of the
Republic of Serbia, Consuls of all Balkan countries, the president
of the Turkish news agency Andolu as well as young representatives
of the countries who are taking part in the organization.
Communications sponsors are the Macedonian Press Agency and the
Turkish press agency Andolu.
The Balkan Square events are an amalgamation of artistic
activities from he Balkans, with musical and dancing units of
ethnic and modern music, dance and exhibitions and Balkan cuisine.
The Balkan Square, this year, took the dimensions the municipality
of Neapoli had envisioned, and spread further than Thessaloniki
and Greece, since this year's events began last Sunday with a
concert in the roman theater of the town of Ochrid in FYROM.
[04] FYROM FOREIGN SECRETARY IN ATHENS
The Foreign Secretary of FYROM, Ilinka Mitreva, will have
discussions with the government and parties of the opposition in
Athens today, in the framework of her tour, having already visited
Bucharest and Ankara.
[05] CLUB MED DROWNING
After the tragic drowning of a 7-year-old boy in the pool of
a Club Mediteranee hotel in Greece, the French company's pool
facilities worldwide are under general investigation.
"When all the results of this investigation are known, all
measures that are appropriate will be taken", stated a company
spokesperson.
[06] PAPANTONIOU: WE CAN SUPPORT THE LOW INCOMES
The government can give an emphasis to social policy through
the support of low incomes thanks to the fact that there will be a
surplus of 200 billion drachmas in the state budget.
The above were stated today by minister of national economy
Yiannos Papantoniou after the meeting of the government's economic
staff with prime minister Kostas Simitis.
Mr. Papantoniou stated that Greece should not return to the
bad past it experienced before 1994 that was characterised by big
deficits, high inflation and stagnant economy.
He further clarified that the government will decide on
social policy within the framework of a three-year plan having an
overall view of the economic situation.
Mr. Papantoniou stressed that the basic parameters of the
stability program that will be in effect until 2004 will be
presented by the prime minister in his speech in Thessaloniki's
International Trade Fair opening on September 8.
According to information, there will be an annual increase of
10% in the special allowance for families with many children or
single parent families, while an allowance will also be received
by the poor families with under-aged children. The social package
also includes the financing of new programs on health and
education with 80 billion drachmas on an annual basis and the
increase of the public servants' pensions.
[07] THE HELLENIC OLYMPIC COMMITTEE RECEIVED 3 MILLION USD FROM
"ATHENS 2004"
The ATHENS 2004 Organising Committee for the Olympic Games
paid the HELLENIC OLYMPIC COMMITTEE the sum of three million US
Dollars (3,000,000 USD) yesterday deriving from the ATHENS 2004's
sponsorship programme's revenues.
The total payment of ATHENS 2004 to the HELLENIC OLYMPIC
COMMITTEE will exceed 10 million USD; this sum will contribute
towards the Olympic preparation of Greek athletes.
[08] 35 BILLION AGAINST UNEMPLOYMENT
The labour ministry will allocate the sum of 35 billion
drachmas in the next three years in the effort to counter
unemployment, according to a decision signed by labour minister
Tasos Yiannitsis today concerning the vocational training of the
unemployed.
The European Social Fund will finance 75% of the program
within the framework of its participation in the effort for the
better exploitation of human resources.
[09] SIMITIS-MITREVA MEETING IN ATHENS TOMORROW
FYROM's foreign minister Ilinka Mitreva will be in Athens
this evening within the framework of her Balkan tour.
Tomorrow, she will meet with Greek foreign minister Giorgos
Papandreou and later in the evening she will have a meeting with
prime minister Kostas Simitis. Ms. Mitreva will also have talks
with the leaders of the Greek opposition.
The goal of her tour is to brief the leaderships of the
Balkan states on the peace agreement in Ochrid and the disarmament
plan for the Albanian rebels.
According to the FYROM press agency MIA, it is likely that
Ms. Mitreva will raise the issue of her country's name in the
contacts she will have in Athens.
[10] GAINS RECORDED IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
Gains of 0.13% were recorded today in the Athens Stock
Exchange. The general index rose to 2.691,12 points, while the
volume of transactions was at 104.8 million Euro or 35.6 billion
drachmas.
Of the stocks trading today, 160 recorded gains and 153 had
losses, while the value of 61 stocks remained stable.
[11] THE GERMANS PREFER CRETE FOR THEIR VACATIONS
The Germans continue to be Crete's best customers followed by
the British, Dutch, French and Italians.
According to information provided to the local newspaper
"Patris" by the Iraklion Airport, a total of 354.789 German
tourists, 219.764 British, 104.917 Dutch, 94.187 French and 41.997
Italians, came to the island of Crete in southern Aegean with
chartered flights in the period between January and July 31, 2001.
[12] 14 SHARKS WERE CAUGHT IN RETHIMNO, CRETE
A fisherman and his son from Georgoupolis in Chania, Crete
found themselves in a big surprise when they discovered that a
total of 14 sharks of all sizes had been caught in their nets,
while fishing off the coasts of Rethimno in the island of Crete in
southern Aegean.
The largest of them was 120 kilos and 3 meters long, while
the rest of the sharks were smaller ones.
Fisherman Yiannis Kokolakis stated that he is in the
profession since 1974 and he had never caught so many and large
fish before. However, he recalled that in 1986 he had caught one
fish that was five meters long.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
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