Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English, 97-12-11

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From: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.

BRIEF GREEK NEWS BULLETIN BY THE MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY

Thessaloniki, December 11, 1997

TITLES

[01] EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON MEDIA POLICY BEGINS IN THESSALONIKI TODAY

[02] PRESIDENT OF HELLENIC REPUBLIC SALUTES 5TH EUROPEAN MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE ON MASS MEDIA

[03] GREECE’S PREMIER KOSTAS SIMITIS SALUTES 5TH EUROPEAN MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE ON MASS MEDIA POLICY

[04] MINISTER OF PRESS AND MEDIA DIMITRIS REPPAS SALUTES 5TH EUROPEAN MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE ON MASS MEDIA POLICY

[05] GREEK PM DEPARTS FOR LUXEMBOURG, EU SUMMIT BEGINS TOMORROW

[06] WASHINGTON CRITICIZES TURKEY’S VIOLATIONS OF ATHENS’ FIR

[07] MINISTER OF MACEDONIA-THRACE VISITS THE UNITED STATES

[08] THESSALONIKI HANDS OVER TORCH TO STOCKHOLM AS “CULTURAL CAPITAL”

[09] PATRIARCHATE-EUROPEAN PARTIES HOLD TALKS AT VLATADON MONASTERY

NEWS IN DETAIL

[01] EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON MEDIA POLICY BEGINS IN THESSALONIKI TODAY

Thessaloniki, December 11 (MPA)

The Summit was inaugurated by the C of E’s alternate secretary-general Hans Christian Kruger, while salutations were forwarded by the President of Greece Kostis Stephanopoulos, Prime Minister Kostas Simitis and Minister of Press and Media Dimitris Reppas.

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.

In his message, the President of the Hellenic Republic Kostis Stefanopoulos stated that the impact of fast-developing new communication technologies on human rights and democratic values is immediate and direct.

Specifically, the President stated that “we are now proceeding with practical applications that are constantly being improved, transmuting the quotidian aspects of our life world and simultaneously open up new horizons regarding the function and philosophy of communication.

However, the President added that globalized information prevailing through the mass media leads to a certain standardization often known for the reversal of the traditional values of journalism as to objectivity in prioritizing coverage of news stories, and the imposition of new criteria, aimed at provoking excitement and awe without causing rational concern.

The Prime Minister, Kostas Simitis, stated that the phenomenon dubbed as “society of information” stands as a real challenge to record and realize all the good things that are hazarded through the development of new forms of information use, processing and transmission.

“It is a challenge regarding the means of protection afforded to the fundamental values of human dignity and democratic governance,” the Premier stated, stressing his conviction that the conference will become a milestone in the history of the European citizens’ involvement with the Information society.

The Minister of Press and Media Dimitris Reppas proposed that a Protocol of Human Rights within the Information Society be drafted, since it is necessitated by the intense legislative activity of the European Union to create a European broadcasting landscape without boundaries and by the current efforts of the Council of Europe to consolidate the freedom of broadcasting across borders among the members.

Moreover, the Press Minister stressed that this Protocol must provide for freedom of access to information, ensure transparency and promote respect of human dignity, i.e., protecting minors from information deleterious to their physical and emotional well- being, without infringing on the adults’ right to obtain access to specialized services.

The Greek Minister stated that “since access to information is a universal condition for any civic actin within the Information Society, as information deficits and inequities pile up to the detriment of the efficient exercise of civil rights, the existing social and political problems in our countries are further exacerbated.”

Mr. Reppas also referred to the perils of concentrating control of the information networks in a few hands, which, as he stated, jeopardizes the very concept of civil liberty.

“As a consequence, the threat to constitutional rights is no longer the state itself but rather the mighty private center of power aspiring to play a hegemonic role not just in the socio- economic but also in the political life of the country, with some indeed achieving it,” he stated.

Overall, Mr. Reppas stressed that the advent of the Information Society not only constitutes a challenge for Europe but will also serve as a test of the respect European peoples have for democracy and human dignity.

“The confirmation of respect to such ideals, in times of intense social problems and concerns must of necessity be expressed through Europe’s human face,” he said.

The C of E’s deputy secretary-general Hans Christian Kruger stressed that the protection of human rights within the framework of the Society Information, must lie at the heart of the 40-member Council’s future efforts. Moreover, he stressed the need for the governments to coordinate their efforts in facing the information revolution, so that conflicting regulations and laws be avoided.

“Above all, new technologies must serve the individual by securing his access to information, education and culture and by improving the citizens’ ties with the public authorities,” he stressed.

“This Conference should allow European states and societies to reaffirm their commitment to the democratic values they share,” Mr. Kruger stated, adding that “if Europe wants to succeed in what one may call the ‘Democratic Information Revolution’ it must build on this foundation.

“At a time when certain countries around the world are trying to control and muzzle the development of the new communications technologies, so as to silence dissenting views and ideas, Europe must come out clearly in favor of the fundamental right to freedom of expression and information,” he said, adding that this can be achieved through providing universal access to information.

Moreover, Mr. Kruger stated that the Steering Committee on the Mass Media of the C of E (CDMM) has already started work on this issue, firstly by providing guidance to policy makers on how universal access can be achieved through the creation of a framework and secondly by promoting a wide debate on this issue among the interested circles and the public at large.

The conference, to be held until tomorrow, is jointly organized by the C of E and Greece’s Ministry of Press and Media, which holds 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. A.F.

[02] PRESIDENT OF HELLENIC REPUBLIC SALUTES 5TH EUROPEAN MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE ON MASS MEDIA

Thessaloniki, December 11, 1997

We are now proceeding with practical applications that are constantly being improved, transmuting the quotidian aspects of our lifeworld and simultaneously open up new horizons regarding the function and philosophy of communication.

We are already experiencing the globalization of information, deemed a significant achievement of democratic societies based on the established axiom that only informed citizens are active.

Nonetheless, globalized information prevailing through the mass media leads to a certain standardization often known for the reversal of the traditional values of journalism as to objectivity in prioritizing coverage of news stories, and the imposition of new criteria, aimed at provoking excitement and awe without causing rational concern.

Thus, despite the daily deluge of information poured on the citizens, the question still remains, how well informed they truly are for the simple reason that the dramatized way of information is served up provides distorted images of immediate reality, eschewing true concern over the events that interest and affect them.

I am specifically referring to the information industry because I believe it to be among the most substantial coefficients for the function of human communication. Yet it is you ministers who are actually competent to probe and distill this issue. I therefore extend my wishes to you for the full success of this conference so that its conclusion may lead to useful findings in order of deal with the challenge that the information society posits and leads to.

[03] GREECE’S PREMIER KOSTAS SIMITIS SALUTES 5TH EUROPEAN MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE ON MASS MEDIA POLICY

Thessaloniki, December 11, 1997

It is, to begin with, a challenge responsibly to record and realize all the good things that are hazarded through the development of new forms of information use, processing and transmission.

Next, it is a challenge regarding the means of protection afforded to the fundamental values of human dignity and democratic governance.

Finally, it is a challenge in respect of adopting policies that will eschew disparities in accessing new technologies, curtailing cultural uniformity, and establishing the prerequisites for employment – of a new form – to be generated.

The Greek Government is an active participant, as it observes these developments with interest. It is for this reason that it desired to host this significant event in Thessaloniki, this year’s European Cultural Capital.

I am convinced that your Convention will respond to these challenges and make important contributions to these areas of concern. For my part, I would like to believe that the 5th European Convention of Communication Media Policies will become a milestone in the history of European citizens’ involvement with the Information Society.

[04] MINISTER OF PRESS AND MEDIA DIMITRIS REPPAS SALUTES 5TH EUROPEAN MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE ON MASS MEDIA POLICY

Thessaloniki, December 11, 1997

Technological developments during the last twenty years have not only contributed to the qualitative improvement of the communication and information services on offer, but also to the proliferation of the traditional mass media.

The emergence of new, publications specialized in all aspects of human activity and interests have had a serious impact on the readership figures of traditional newspapers of general interest.

Digital signal transmission in combination with satellite, cable and optical fibre systems, allows the transmission of an almost unlimited number of radio-television signals, while offering at the same time excellent sound and image quality.

More specifically, in the realm of t.v. Broadcasting television, the emergence of numerous stations which host a great number of programmes of a variety of ethnic backgrounds, convey the impression that all types of boundaries (geographical, social, religious, etc.) have by now vanished. On the other hand, the cross-border character of broadcasts, the continuous programme specialization,the "pay per view" capability, as well as the facility of personally ordering the entertainment of your choice (video on demand) are literally changing the consumer attitudes towards television.

I believe we would all agree on the impact that this extraordinary growth of radio-television services has begun to have on our lives, especially at a time of revolutionary technological developments in related sectors, such as telecommunications.

We now have, indeed, at our disposal an entirely new communication system, integrating sound, image and word in storage sites, with two-way links that permit simultaneous access to all users. A content industry has thus emerged, reaching a wider public at low cost. In this context users need not be solely consumers, but also, potentially, providers of content .

Television companies, the Mass Communication Media and computer manufacturers, who in the past used to operate at different levels and on different principles, are now converging in shaping a unified communications system, made up of superimposed cross-linked communication networks which flow into one another on the so called information highways.

In this sense, the interweaving and convergence of old and new modes of communication seems to weaken if not obliterate the dividing lines between media and telecommunications. Consequently, any national policy in the media sector cannot be determined solely on the narrow criterion of promoting ethnic culture. It is equally true that policy cannot be shaped by market forces alone.

What is, thus, sought is a new equilibrium that will not only take into account market requirements or consumer preferences, but will mainly safeguard democracy and fundamental rights in this new era of communications.

The much discussed "convergence" between traditional and new communications services is, thus, reaching its culmination by posing fundamental questions as to the methods and the practices by means of which it should be organized.

The Council of Europe has already attempted a first answer to such questions at the first ministerial conference in December 1986, in Vienna. Since then, it has, indeed ,been the Council's main objective to formulate a coherent, unified European media policy. Nevertheless, we must recognise that the sheer speed of new technological developments often compels the Council to adopt reactive media policies in response to faits accomplis.

The Greek Delegation believes it is necessary to establish an integrated policy for the information society that should be based on research and provide for strategic programmes that will promote the European traditions of democracy and multi culturalism.

Such long-term strategies are more than ever needed, as the constituent parts of the Information Society become more and more obvious.

II. THE INFORMATION SOCIETY

1. Prevailing trends

In the post-Guttenberg era, our societies seem to be conditioned by the trends of globalisation and of generalisation in mass behaviour and products. Such trends lead to shaping supranational "segments" of populations sharing similar living conditions, priorities, desires or sociocultural attitudes, regardless of where they live. We note, on the other hand, that since the early 80s, the Information Society creates two conflicting movements towards unequal exchange between industrialised mass culture and the particular forms of cultural expression.

Generally speaking these trends emerge in three different fields:

- Technological infrastructure under the form of wide diffusion of technological innovation and the development of information networks.

- public and private sector dependence on communication technology and information networks in the field of market operations and of public administration.

- mass consumption of information technologies and services by the public.

In all these three fields, there is a tendency towards the decentralisation of the administrative structures of the public and private sector while the efficiency of medium size operators is the most likely to be enhanced.

All the same, this nexus of trends and functions relies on a complex mechanism of convergence between old and new technologies. The complexity of the system is exacerbated by the unceasing stream of innovations piling up in communication technologies. In this way, new social and cultural forms emerge, so that we must redefine our societies if we want to keep them in step with a continuously changing environment.

In our day to day life, however, the features of the information society that we become conscious of are the following:

- the exponential pace of data proliferation and deployment

- the immediacy of access to facts and information

- the mediation of information as a universal form in our daily activities.

We are, thus , deluged by more information than we can process, while we have grown accustomed to ask for more than we need. This overload is the most salient feature of the Information Society, yet it cancels the most significant moment of the communication process, that is the moment when the information input is transmuted into knowledge.

2. The Geopolitics of Information

Recent estimates of global market size for communication and information products and services place it at over one trillion dollars, to be doubled by the year 2000. Governments are redefining their policy on the national level in order to come to grips with the situation.

The U.S., for instance, is spending US$ 2bn. annually on the information highway. Canada has already submitted its 'final report' on the survey of the information highway and is already deploying CAN$ 24bn. in a concerted effort to devise the necessary programmes. Japan announced that by the year 2015, every school, home and office will be connected through an fiberoptics network.

In Europe the four-year research and development project for new information infrastructure costing US$ 3.8bn will have been completed by the end of next year.

As Europeans, we expect this infrastructure to serve: - internal market convergence - Public administration and private sector operational framework enhancement - balanced social, economic and cultural growth.

III. IS SOCIAL COHESION IN EUROPE AT RISK ?

We would be fooling ourselves if we didn't point out that the present growth model, that relies fully on the retreat of government intervention and on the pursuit of self-regulation under a laissez - faire free market economy, bodes ill for Europe's social cohesion.

The Greek delegation is not among those 'romantics' who believe that the problems raised by the Information Society may be resolved through social and economic automation. Even if ominous prophesies of a future 'Big Brother' tyranny as part of a "Brave New World" shouldn’t inhibit the active participation of European populations, in the new age that has dawned on us, the Information Society constitutes a challenge for us to scrutinize in the light of revolutionary technological breakthroughs the content in the fundamental values of human dignity and democracy.

This challenge implies a commitment to face up to some grave dangers threatening our societies.

Europe is actually living through a period of transition during which the well- known, familiar, and what is clear and evident, is strongly challenged. Existing structures are rapidly breaking down so that we find it difficult to adapt to, and make sense of, what is happening to us. This confused landscape accentuates the information flow differentials. We know such flows to be unfairly concentrated in the North, and almost absent between North and South. Indeed, less than 10% of information flows happen among the countries of the South. It's also estimated that news flown from North to South are a hundred times those from South to North.

Since access to information is a universal condition for any civic action within the Information Society, as information deficits and iniquities pile up to the detriment of the efficient exercise of civil rights, the existing social and political problems in our countries are further exacerbated. Thus, our common constitutional heritage, founded on democracy and pluralism, seems to be undermined.

Allow me simply to enumerate some of these bleak perspectives:

1. The emergence of private power centres

As more and more aspects of public and private life come to depend on communication and information networks, the providers of information acquire the power to regulate and control the life of the citizens they purportedly serve. The confidentiality of the most intimate moments of our private life is at the provider’s discretion.

The concentration of control over the information networks in a few hands, jeopardises the very concept of civil liberty. As a consequence, the threat to constitutional rights is no longer the state itself but rather the mighty private centres of power aspiring to play a hegemonic role not just in the socio-economic but also in the political life of the country, with some indeed achieving it.

2. Information iniquity and social exclusion

As Europe enters the Information Society, old imbalances see the addition of a new one that throws them further askew: iniquitous access to information.

A danger of full scale marginalization of entire population segments is thus becoming obvious. The victims of this downgrading to the class of an information proletariat are easily identifiable. They are to be found among the most vulnerable socio- economic classes of Europe: the unemployed, the immigrants, the populations of South and Eastern Europe, as well as those living in the de-industrialised zones of the North.

Even within the category of those privileged few who maintain access to communication networks, the combination of socioeconomic power and access to information tends to consolidate new hierarchies that have much in common with ancient oligarchies.

Social exclusion, racism and xenophobia are just a foretaste of the explosive effects that any consolidation of the unequal access to information might have on our societies .

3. Cultural homogenisation

With the ascendancy gained by the new information technologies, we become global copycats not only in terms of the uniformity of technical infrastructures but in producing a homogenised culture as well.

Cultural services on the other hand are undergoing cataclysmic changes, resulting in an ever increasing deterioration of their aesthetic quality and their transformation in another commercial activity. Culture thus becomes a commodity no longer subject to criteria of quality, but rather to the logic of sales increase.

4. Commercial information and transaction risks

Commercial activity through the Information technology, poses threats to firms and consumers alike. Problems are rife with respect to identity and probity of providers, information accuracy and inviolability of privacy. This feeling of insecurity grows as transactions cross borders, due precisely to the lack of a cohesive regulatory framework.

5. Employment in the Information Society

Allow me at this point to lay particular emphasis on the prospect for employment within the European Information Society. History is in any case intertwoven with the history of labour and employment. European history, nonetheless , is today connected with mounting unemployment.

We refer to a Europe of 60 million poor and 27 million unemployed. What's worse is that unemployment hits our young hardest.

We thus find ourselves confronted with a major problem whose real size within the evolving Information Society is still unclear.

There will be at least 1 billion computers all plugged in by the year 2007. What will they all be doing as well as the human beings sitting in front of them ? Three things: buying, selling and exchanging information. This is a new kind of employment now emerging that consists in managing information that is processing data for a network economy.

It is therefore, obvious what that implies: in the Information Society a large part of this "plugged-in economy" will be processing information, as well as its content.

The Information Society may indeed be able to push the productivity curve upwards. Several experts hold that it is not at all unlikely to witness a 300% increase in office work efficiency by the start of the next century.

Despite its positive aspects, however, the Information Society, if left unregulated, will increase unemployment and deepen the chasm separating rich from poor.

Such are some of the fundamental aspects of the challenge that the Information Society poses for Europe. Of course we are refering to tendencies rather than to irrevocable historical laws. They are, however, indicative of the adverse prospects brought about by an unlimited trust in the ability of our societies to welcome the Information Society, guided only by the invisible hand of free competition.

Our common commitment to the rule of law, equity and social solidarity makes it imperative for us to secure for the citizens of Europe the full enjoyment of their constitutional rights. This means that they may fairly participate in public life, a right that is inherent in the very nature of communication : universal access to information is the condition for full citizen participation in modern democratic institutions.

IV. TOWARDS A "PROTOCOL OF HUMAN RIGHTS WITHIN THE INFORMATION SOCIETY"

Half a century ago, the abhorrent experience of Nazism and total war stimulated our countries to proclaim a charter of the fundamental human rights each one of us is to enjoy in a democratic policy. This charter, the most important document of our common constitutional culture, unlike other proclamations of human rights did not remain a mere wish list. With its additional protocols it constitutes the sovereign law of our lands, regulating the activities of the state's agencies, and implemented by our law- courts under the supervision of the European Court of Human Rights.

Today, just a few years after the collapse of oppressive regimes in the East, and on the threshold of a new millennium, the mediation of communication in the exercise of every constitutional right is almost universal and quotidian. The old shell of section 10 of the Convention of Rome is now too much narrow to fully contain novel aspects of freedom of communication and information, and as such must now be replaced.

The Greek delegation believes that the best way to meet the new information era is by drafting a new Additional Protocol to be attached to the European Human Rights Convention, dealing with "Human Rights in the Information Society". This course is implied by the intense legislative activity of the European Union to create a European broadcasting landscape without boundaries, and by the current efforts of the Council to consolidate the freedom of broadcasting across borders among its members.

Freedom of access to Information.

This freedom has two aspects, an active and a passive one. Everybody has a right to a minimum of information necessary for the due exercise of fundamental rights recognised by the Convention of Rome. Conversely, anybody's exclusion from such information by any means (for instance, by exorbitant rates) should be strictly prohibited. To the degree, on the other hand, that freedom of expression within the Information Society is largely exercised through the communications networks everybody should have a right to a modicum of access to the web so as to be able to upload, exchange and download the information that he or she posesses.

Transparency and human dignity: the bounds of freedom.

An effective guarantee of the right to access information networks makes it imperative for the state authorities of our countries to respond by restricting concentration of power in the hands of a few, to promote transparency and to take steps so that fundamental professional ethics are observed. In particular:

1. State authorities must prevent the concentration of too much economic power in the sector of access and content providers. They must also ensure transparency in the relations both among the providers themselves and in their dealings with the state. Through the appropriate measures, commercial competition will not be adulterated, the dominant position of major providers will not be abused by pressure being exerted on state decision- making bodies or by unilaterally dictating the terms under which citizens will exercise their constitutional rights. The legal systems of participating states, including the Greek one, are already equipped with a number of detailed antitrust provisions in the realm of radio-television broadcasting. The European Commission, on its part, though it has not yet decided on specific regulations, displays a marked concern over the issue. The same is true of the Council, which has gone so far as to lay down, in the form of a Recommendation, principles for transparency.

On the other hand the state is under obligation to see to it that providers of access, and chiefly of content, will comply with certain fundamental rules that mainly concern:

2. Respecting the dignity of the network users protecting minors from information deleterious to their physical and emotional well-being, without infringing on adult’s right to obtain access to specialised services, and ensuring the protection of privacy, especially from having their personal and confidential data recorded, processed and handed over to third parties.

National legislation regulating the content of radio and television broadcasts and of data bases containing personal data, can make a fundamental contribution. In this respect the pan- European prospect of protecting human dignity and children from television broadcasts, particularly from obnoxious advertising material as well as of combating xenophobia and racism is no doubt due to the recently amended European Union Directive for Television Without Frontiers. In addition, the publication of the Green Paper on the protection of human dignity and children from the excesses of new audio-visual services, the Directive for the protection of persons from personal data processing in conjunction with the statement by the Council of Ministers on the illegal and harmful content of the Internet prove that the need to establish an integrated regulatory framework at European level is now well understood.

V. ACTION PLAN FOR A LONG-TERM STRATEGY ON SOCIAL POLICY

The establishment, however, of a regulatory framework at European or national level is not sufficient, on its own, to avert the prospect of exclusion of large population segments from the flow of information nor does it preclude the homogenisation of cultural models dominating the flow of information. For even if each individual's freedom to obtain access to information networks were to be fully buttressed, it would, nevertheless, prove of little actual worth to those lacking the actual capability to make use of it (e.g. posession of the required financial or technical means or suitable training). It is, therefore, up to us as sovereign states to elaborate a long term strategy that will ensure the necessary conditions for the fair participation of all citizens in the Information Society .

Particular policy priorities:

A policy for the Information Society must give priority to the following strategic objectives: n Establishment of flexible educational institutions that will undertake the affordable and universal dissemination of rudimentary knowledge necessary for the fair participation in information networks. Nevertheless, the fact that continuous technological innovation is a chief feature of the Information Society, the educational objectives of such institutions must include life-long education, while re-training has to be offered on a massive scale to everybody. n Research and development on new forms of employment and industrial relations emerging in the Information Society. n Development and implementation of projects to promote innovative productive investments that will also ensure the maximum of job creation. n Know-how and exchange in expertise, particularly in the realm of "content industry" with a view to job creation. n Promotion of technology growth in the field of data privacy in the information and communication networks. n Support of research on technical means for the identification of illegal content and for preventing access to it. n Strengthening of the role of public service in the new Information Society. The wide- ranging discussions, within the Council, at the Prague Conference as well as recently within the Council of EU Ministers at the Maastricht meeting, have shown the decisive and irreplaceable contribution of public television in providing each citizen with essential information and entertainment. Public service can also prove vitally important in establishing and managing information networks priced in such a way so as to attract low-income social strata. n Consumer protection by the creation of machinery prohibiting the assemination of information harmful to consumer interests. n Encouragement of swift out-of-court settlement of disputes. n Incentives to providers so that they may offer access under preferential terms to special categories of users (such as hard-to- reach communities, public institutions, non-profit associations, etc.). n Guarantees as to equal availability to members of either sex, to the disabled, and to other people with special needs, of fair access to information flows within networks, particularly through the promotion of suitable training and incentive programmes. n Enhancement of special cultural features among national and local communities. Promotion of an integrated European cultural policy based on common action that will respect its multicultural identity and the differences in others, that have served as the foundations of the European tradition. n Along these lines, a decisive role should be assigned to the implementation of intercultural networks, of communication and learning that may encourage the development of technical methods and information tools to facilitate communication in mother tongues (e.g. software in alphabets of less used languages). n Promotion of cooperation at European level to ensure diversity of content while at the same time providing people with special requirements or abilities with the means to communicate among themselves and to constitute a special, viable market for cultural information.

VI. EPILOGUE: THE HUMAN FACE OF EUROPE IN THE INFORMATION ERA

No one can dispute that the advent of the Information Society not only constitutes a challenge for Europe but will also serve as a test of the respect European peoples have for democracy and human dignity. The confirmation of respect to such ideals, in times of intense social problems and concerns must of necessity be expressed through Europe's human face. This will reflect the obligation the European leadership has vis-à-vis every citizen in his or her capacity as an active member of the political, social, economic and cultural European life, and not just as an information consumer unit.

This must be, I firmly believe, the main challenge facing our Conference : to enhance the human - centered character of the Information Society.

[05] GREEK PM DEPARTS FOR LUXEMBOURG, EU SUMMIT BEGINS TOMORROW

Luxembourg, December 11 (MPA)

Mr. Simitis, who met with the President of the European Council (Luxembourg’s Premier Jean Claude Junker) in Athens yesterday, has reiterated that the Greek positions are known to all of the EU allies and stressed that Greece wishes to promote the Community’s expansion plan, albeit adding that the plan should proceed with all the candidate countries.

Meanwhile, in Luxembourg this evening, the Socialist leaders of the EU member-states are to convene in a Conference which will also be attended by Premier Simitis and the president of the Socialist Party of Cyprus Vassos Lyssarides. The Socialist party leaders are to co-decide on the stance they will adopt during the EU Summit. A.F.

[06] WASHINGTON CRITICIZES TURKEY’S VIOLATIONS OF ATHENS’ FIR

Washington, December 11 (MPA)

A State Department official stated that the violations are “provocative” and added that such acts do not contribute to the efforts to improve Greek-Turkish relations. According to diplomatic reports, the State Department’s undersecretary Mark Grossman personally addressed the issue.

Specifically, ten Turkish F-16 fighter jets entered Athens’ FIR yesterday morning and came close to the Thermaikos Bay. They were intercepted by Greek Phantoms and F-16 fighter planes. A.F.

[07] MINISTER OF MACEDONIA-THRACE VISITS THE UNITED STATES

Thessaloniki, December 11 (MPA)

In his meeting with the US officials, the Minister stressed the significant role of northern Greece in the new political and economic order that has been created in Southeastern Europe, as well as the importance of Macedonia and Thrace as a bridge linking the European Union and the West with the Balkans.

In a press conference granted in Washington, Mr. Petsalnikos stated that the American officials agreed on Greece’s leading role in the promotion of democratic principles and the economic reformation in the greater region. Moreover, he stated that they applauded Greece’s initiatives to hold the Ministerial Summit of Southeastern Europe in Thessaloniki, as well as the Balkan State and Government Leaders Summit Conference in Crete.

In regards to Greek-Turkish relations, Mr. Petsalnikos referred to his talks with Mr. Grossman and stated that he underlined Greece’s will to enjoy good neighborly ties with Turkey, albeit adding that a basic prerequisite for security in the region is Turkey’s respect for international accords. In turn, Mr. Grossman told the Greek minister that the time has come for Turkey to accept the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice at The Hague concerning to the Imia islets issue.

During his three-day stay in Washington, Mr. Petsalnikos met with leading members of the Greek-American community, as well as with officials from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. A.F.

[08] THESSALONIKI HANDS OVER TORCH TO STOCKHOLM AS “CULTURAL CAPITAL”

Thessaloniki, December 11 (MPA)

During a formal ceremony to be held tomorrow at Thessaloniki’s Monastery of Lazarists, the city’s mayor Konstantinos Kosmopoulos, who served as president of the organization “Cultural Capital of Europe Thessaloniki ‘97”, will meet with his Swedish counterpart to whom he will hand over the title.

Also tomorrow morning, at the Association of Macedonian Studies, the Swedish academic Sture Liner will present his book titled “ A Swedish woman in Greece of the 19th century”. The Swedish Minister of Culture, Ms. Marita Oulvskog, will attend this presentation. A.F.

[09] PATRIARCHATE-EUROPEAN PARTIES HOLD TALKS AT VLATADON MONASTERY

Thessaloniki, December 12 (MPA)

The dialogue, which started last year in Istanbul after an invitation issued by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, will be titled “Relations between Church and State: Man in Europe of the Third Millennium”.

During the three-day events, the participants are to discuss the significance of Christian values in the modern society and their replacement of Marxist values. 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/

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