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Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English, 97-12-12Macedonian 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 12, 1997TITLES
NEWS IN DETAIL[01] HEAD OF EUROPEAN COMMISSION’S DIRECT/TE-GENERAL X ON MEDIA POLICYThessaloniki, December 12 (MPA)The Director-General for Information, Communication, Culture and Audio Visual Media of the European Commission’s Directorate- General X Spyros Pappas addressed the Thessaloniki-held Fifth European ministerial conference on Mass Media Policy today.On the occasion of the adoption of the Political Declaration and the two accompanying Resolutions, Mr. Pappas relayed the Commission’s satisfaction and stressed that the Declaration is to contribute to the achievement of utilizing the new technologies in the information sector in the fullest degree, while at the same time preserving the intrinsic values of the European society. Moreover, the European Commission official stated that the Commission approved a Green Paper on the Convergence of the Telecommunications, Media and Information Technology sectors and the implications for Regulations. “The Green Paper will provide the basis for a wide consultation process with a view to identifying the key models for future regulatory polices both at the European Union and at a national level, “ Mr. Pappas stated, adding that this consultation process will last until the end of April. Mr. Pappas urged that “given the essentially transfrontier nature of many Information Society issues, it is important that our policies have as wide a geographical scope as possible,” one that could expand to the members of the Council of Europe who are not -or not yet- members of the European Union. Furthermore, Mr. Pappas illustrated another sector of complementation being carried out in the work of the European Union institutions and in the Council of Europe, that being the protection of minors and human dignity and the safe use of the Internet where the Commission has adopted proposals for a Council Recommendation and an Action Plan. He added that the Commission has proposed, and in some cases is already preparing, initiatives on crucial regulatory issues related to electronic commerce, such as protection of copyright, liability, applicable law, regulatory transparency and digital signatures. “The reality of today’s Mass Media scene is that television is the dominant medium for the vast majority of Europeans and will remain so for the foreseeable future,” Mr. Pappas stated and added that the EU has adopted an amended “Television Without Frontiers’ Directive” which will be implemented by December of 1998. In all, Mr. Pappas emphasized that the “Commission, for its part, will continue to work to this end in the Standing Committee. The successful outcome of the amendment process will, in this way, make possible a proposal for the European Community to accede to the Convention.” A.F. [02] EUROPEAN CONFERENCE FOR MEDIA POLICY TO CLOSE TODAYThessaloniki, December 12 (MPA)The problems that rise from the implementation of the new technologies, mainly issues of protection of the human rights, but also a need for the re-examining the operational frame for the mass media, were the main issues during yesterday’s session of the two- day 5th European Conference of Ministers for the Policy in the Mass Media.Summing up the works of this session, the Greek Minister of Culture, Mr. Evangelos Venizelos, leading the works of the conference, observed that technology is ahead and that the policy and the legal regulations follow with great delay. A.F. [03] EU SUMMIT BEGINS IN LUXEMBOURG TODAYLuxembourg, December 12 (MPA)The European Union Summit is set to begin today in Luxembourg, the country currently holding the Community’s rotating presidency. Luxembourg Premier and EU President Jean Claude Junker stated that Turkey will need decades to come before it achieves accession to the EU. As it is known the issue of the expansion concerns Greece directly, since there is a proposal for the creation of a European conference, that will meet twice a year and the countries that are candidates for entrance as well as Turkey will participate. Greece sets condition for the participation of Turkey, the most important of which are, that Turkey should accept the general jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice at The Hague, abide with the international law and the international agreements, not object to the entrance of Cyprus in the European Union and take steps towards a solution to the problem of the island. A.F.[04] GREECE WILL INTERVENE FOR KOSSOVOTirana, December 12 (MPA)Greece is ready to intervene between Albanians and Serbs in an effort to resolve the Kossovo issue, if the Greek government were to be asked to do so, stated that press attache of the Greek embassy at Tirana N. Vlahakis.Moreover, Mr. Vlahakis stressed that Greece had already made this gesture during the Crete-held Summit conference. A.F. [05] U.S.: TURKEY SHOULD STOP ITS USELESS AND PROVOCATIVE FLIGHTSWashington, December 12 (MPA)The spokesperson of the US State Department James Foley has issued an appeal to turkey that it halt its military activity in the Aegean Sea’s air space, after a question submitted to him during yesterday’s press conference, where he stated that the Turkish military flights in the Aegean’s northwest region are uselessly provocative and unnecessary, even if they took place in the international air space.Mr. Foley stated that these flights were registered on NATO’s radar and pointed out that military activity of this sort undermines trust and worsens tension between two countries-members of the Alliance. 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 |