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Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English, 97-12-10Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.BRIEF GREEK NEWS BULLETIN BY THE MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCYThessaloniki, December 10, 1997TITLES
NEWS IN DETAIL[01] GREECE TO ENTER EMU BY THE YEAR 2002, SAYS PRIME MINISTERAthens, December 10 (MPA)Greece must enter the European Monetary Union by the year 2002, stated the Prime Minister Kostas Simitis during his address in Parliament last evening where talks concerned the national economy’s convergence with the economies of the other EU member- states.Mr. Simitis stressed that the program currently applied by the government will continue to be enforced as it is already bearing results. Meanwhile, the President of the country’s main opposition party, New Democracy’s Kostas Karamanlis, criticized the government for its policies which he characterized as “doddering”. The other opposition parties’ leaders made similar remarks. In his rejoinder, Mr. Simitis stated that the main opposition party makes issues out of untimely subjects and constantly refers to the past without looking at the future. A.F. [02] GREEK ALTERNATE FM SPEAKS TO BELGIAN PRESS ON TURKEY’S TIES WITH EUBrussels, December 10 (MPA)Greece’s alternate Foreign Minister George Papandreou granted an extensive interview to the Belgian daily “Libre Belgique, where he stressed that “in spite of the commonly-held view, Greece has no doubt of Turkey’s European orientation, but Ankara must make an effort in this direction.”In the article, Mr. Papandreou called on the European Union leaders to be honest with Ankara and added that Turkey does have issues that it must resolved. Moreover, the Greek alternate Foreign Minister reiterated that Greece will be willing to lift its veto on Turkey’s Customs Union with the EU if Turkey accepts recourse to the International Court of Justice at The Hague for the Imia islets issue. Mr. Papandreou did underline that he agrees with all those who see Turkey as member of the European Union in the future. We make no discrimination on the basis of religious of cultural criteria, every country has its character, however, the EU does have certain principles, democratic values, respect of human rights, a state of justice,” he pointed out, adding that “all the countries who wish to become EU members have to accept these principles.” The Greek official added that “I have the impression that certain countries want to have their cake and eat it too. They want to have good ties with Turkey, but without allowing it to approach Europe, They want to give (Turkey) something, like they give candy to a child. But this is not the best food (for a child) for growth. We need to be clear with the Turks on what exactly we expect from them and what it is that they must do in order to become EU members.” In regards to the Cyprus issue, Mr. Papandreou stated that the beginning of accession negotiations could be a useful opportunity and stressed that if the Turkish community decided to refrain from these talks it will have lost an historic opportunity. “The Turkish-Cypriots could become the first Moslem- and Turkish - community of Europe. This could constitute a bridge between the EU and Turkey.” A.F. [03] PARLIAMENT ’S FOREIGN AND DEFENSE COUNCIL TO CONVENE TODAYAthens, December 10 (MPA)The Greek Parliament’s Foreign and Defense Council is to convene today under the leadership of Defense Minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos who will brief the deputies on the Alliance’s new command structure.Meanwhile, the European Union’s Summit is to be held this Friday and Saturday in Luxembourg, the country currently holding the Community’s rotating presidency, and will be attended by the “15” state and government leaders. The EU leaders will tackle the issue of Turkey’s ties with the European Union and its participation in the Summit. A.F. [04] C OF E’S PRESS MINISTERS HOLD 5TH SUMMIT IN THESSALONIKI TOMORROWThessaloniki, December 10 (MPA)Over 40 ministers of press and media from the Council of Europe member-states, along with observers and other officials, are to gather in Thessaloniki tomorrow in order to participate at the Fifth European Ministerial Summit for Politics in the Mass Media.The Summit will be inaugurated by the Greek Minister of Press and Media Dimitris Reppas and the C of E’s alternate secretary- general Hans Christian Kruger, while salutations will be forwarded by the President of Greece Kostis Stephanopoulos and the Prime Minister Kostas Simitis. The conference, to be held until Friday, is jointly organized by the C of E and Greece’s Ministry of Press and Media, which will hold the presidency of the event. This marks the first time that Greece has been assigned the organization of such a significant event in the sector of information and communication. The Greek delegation, headed by the secretary-general of information Yiannis Nikolaou will focus on the theme “Society of Information: a Challenge for Europe” . The two-day Summit will examine the opportunities provided by the governments for the adoption of a common policy in regards to new technologies and the new services related to communication- information. The ministers will try to draw a regulating framework that will aim at safeguarding human rights and freedoms, as well as the basic principles of democracy. A.F. [05] COUNCIL OF EUROPE WANTS TO IMPROVE PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTSStrasbourg, December 10 (MPA)The Council of Europe is to grant priority to the development and strengthening of its control mechanism regarding support of democratic freedoms, in light of the operation of the new European Court of Human Rights in November of 1998, stated the C of E’s new alternate secretary-general Hans Christian Kruger.Speaking to the Macedonian Press Agency, Mr. Kruger said that the main target of the Council is to further establish its recently-conducted expansion to 40 member-states. The new European Court of Human Rights will address issues concerning the respect of individual freedoms of 800 million citizens from Portugal to Vladivostok and from Iceland to Cyprus. It will be set for operation after the closing of Greece’s presidency in November of 1998. A.F. [06] DELEGATIONS FROM GREECE-BULGARIA TO EXAMINE MILITARY COOPERATIONThessaloniki, December 10 (MPA)A Greek Bulgarian meeting concerning military cooperation between the two countries will be held in Thessaloniki on Friday, December 12, at the city’s Third Army Corps.Heading the delegations with be the leader of Greece’s Armed Forces Athanasios Tzoganis and his Bulgarian counterpart Miho Mihov. The two men will proceed to the signing of a program on Greek-Bulgarian military cooperation for the year 1998. The two teams are to also visit the Bulgarian city of Santaski. A.F. [07] GREEK AND ALBANIAN POLICE DELEGATIONS MEET, AGREE TO COOPERATEGjirocaster, December 10 (MPA)Delegations of the border police forces of Greece and Albania met yesterday at the border station of Kakavia.According to the chief of police of Gjirocaster, the Albanian team requested from the Greek delegation to provide its support in logistic facilities and added that the Greek side expressed its full support to the Albanian police. A.F. [08] HYATT REGENCY’S HOTEL IN THESSALONIKI TO BE READY BY START OF 1999Thessaloniki, December 10 (MPA)Hyatt Regency is to open hotel and conference facilities in Thessaloniki by the start of the year 1999, according to hotel officials. The 40-billion-drachma unit will be founded in the area of Thermi, to be built on 100 stremmata, 10% of which will be buildings and the remaining will be recreational and open air areas.The hotel’s accommodations will include 500 beds, 29 suites, of which two will be “presidential” and parking space for 600 automobiles. A.F. [09] UNIONIZED TRUCK DRIVERS IN FYROM PROTEST VISA ISSUANCE PROCESSSkopje, December 10 (MPA)The independent union of truck drivers in FYROM conducted a protest rally outside the Greece-FYROM Liaison Office in Skopje yesterday, demanding that the visa-issuance process for travel to Greece be simplified.According to the president of the union Straso Ivanov, the way these visas are currently issued is like an embargo enforced against his country. Mr. Ivanof stated that the truck drivers should be issued an annual visa good for multiple trips to Greece. He threatened that if his association’s request is not met, then the drivers will proceed to block the roads that lead to Greece. A.F. [10] HIJACKED RUSSIAN AIRLINER HAS BEEN FREED WITH NO VICTIMSMoscow, December 10 (MPA)Security services ended a hijacking of a Moscow-bound passenger plane today, freeing unharmed all 142 travelers and crew on board the Russian airliner and arresting a lone hijacker, according to the French news agency AFP which cites the Russian news agency Interfax.The plane was hijacked early this morning during a flight from Magadan in the Russian far east to Moscow. After flying in circles above the Russian capital for about an hour, the Ilyshin- 62 landed at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport. Upon landing, Russia’s anti-terrorist Alpha forces seized the hijacker who was reported wound up with cables, supposedly explosive. The lone-acting man, contrary to previous reports of three accomplices, is said to have tried to transfer gold deposits from Magadan’s gold mines. A.F. [11] TURKEY’S PARLIAMENT TO DECIDE ON CENSURE VOTE AGAINST PM YILMAZAnkara, December 10 (MPA)The Turkish Parliament is to discuss today the censure vote submitted against the country’s Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz.According to Turkish legislation, the government will be forced to resign if the censure proposal is passed. In order for this to be achieved, the opposition must gather an overall majority, that is 276 votes. A.F. [12] OSCE ACCUSES SERB AUTHORITIES OF IRREGULARITIES DURING ELECTIONSBelgrade, December 10 (MPA)The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has accused the Serb authorities of not following its recommendations during Sunday’s presidential election process.OSCE spokesperson Gerard Stowdman stressed that the Serb authorities should be more active in their efforts to restore faith and trust of the Serb people to the elections system. Among OSCE recommendations was the need to provide more media coverage to the elections and Mr. Stowdman said that the state- owned television channel was clearly in favor of the ruling party’s candidate. A.F. [13] ONE OUT OF FOUR GREEK YOUNGSTERS IS OVERWEIGHT, STUDY REVEALSAthens, December 10 (MPA)Poor dietary habits that are being adopted at a young age have resulted in one out four Greek youngsters being overweight, a statistic correlated to eating fast food up to five times a week and not exercising.Recent studies conducted by the Greek Foundation of Cardiology (ELIKAP), have revealed that, from as young as 11 years old, Greek children show signs of hypertension at a 13% rate and high cholesterol levels at a rate that reaches 15%. Coinciding with the World Day for Children, 400 doctors- members of ELIKAP are to visit school rooms throughout the country tomorrow, as part of an educational campaign for healthier living. According to the Professor of Cardiology at the University of Athens Dr. Toutouzas, both adults and children need to realize that it is up to them to avoid cardiovascular disease by following the simple rules of prevention. “Fish, chicken, fruits and vegetables is a simple mnemonic rule for a healthy diet,” Dr. Toutouzas stated, advising also that the salt habit is one that should be kicked since it leads to hypertension, a condition suffered by two million Greeks. A.F. Complete archives of the Macedonian Press Agency bulletins are available on the MPA Home Page at http://www.mpa.gr/ and on the U.S. mirror at http://www.hri.org/MPA/Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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