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Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English, 98-05-05

Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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, May 5, 1998


TITLES

  • [01] GREEK PREMIER MEETS WITH PRESIDENT STEPHANOPOULOS
  • [02] ECONOMY & FINANCE MINISTER ANNOUNCES CHANGES IN LABOR
  • [03] TENSION MOUNTS IN KOSSOVO
  • [04] GREEK PARLIAMENT COMMITTEES BRIEFED ON EMU
  • [05] NEW ATLANTIC INITIATIVE VISITS ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH VARTHOLOMEOS
  • [06] GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN ON STATE-CHURCH RELATIONS
  • [07] GREECE BECOMES PRESIDENT OF COUNCIL OF EUROPE TODAY
  • [08] EU COMMISSIONER REJECTS HOLBROOKE’S STATEMENT
  • [09] GREEK COMMITTEE OF AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CELEBRATES IN THESSALONIKI
  • [10] THESSALONIKI’S AIRPORT REPLACED BY KAVALA’S FOR A WEEK
  • [11] CYPRIOT GOVERNMENT FAVORS DEMILITARIZATION OF ISLAND
  • [12] NEW CHAIRMAN APPOINTED ON GREEK BOURSE
  • [13] PREMIER: THE COURSE TO EMU IS CRYSTAL CLEAR

  • NEWS IN DETAIL

    [01] GREEK PREMIER MEETS WITH PRESIDENT STEPHANOPOULOS

    Athens, May 5 (MPA)

    Prime Minister Kostas Simitis is to be received by the President of the Hellenic Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos today whom he will brief on the results of the Euro Summit held over the weekend in Brussels. Tomorrow, Mr. Simitis is to meet with the country’s political leaders whom he will also brief on the Euro Summit. On Thursday, the Premier will give a press conference while the leader of the main opposition party New Democracy’s Kostas Karamanlis will give a press conference today.

    [02] ECONOMY & FINANCE MINISTER ANNOUNCES CHANGES IN LABOR

    Athens, May 5 (MPA)

    The Minister of National Economy and Finance Yiannos Papantoniou announced that restructure measures are to be drawn and changes will take place in the labor and insurance sectors. Moreover, Mr. Papantoniou ruled out the possibility of another devaluation of the drachma, stated that the unemployment rate in Greece will be reduced by the year 2001 and added that by the year 2002 automobile prices will be lower thanks to the Euro. However, the main opposition party New Democracy is stating that the whole matter is a national failure.

    [03] TENSION MOUNTS IN KOSSOVO

    Prishtina, May 5 (MPA)

    Tension is mounting in the strife-torn region of Kossovo, between the Serbs and the Albanian-speaking locals. According to reports, Serb policemen stationed at the Bonosevac village near the border with Albania have seized 200 members of the Kossovo Liberating Army and have opened fire. Unconfirmed reports mention dozens of injured. More than 150 people have died since a Serb police crackdown two months ago against so-called Kossovo Liberation army. In raids on Albanian villages and on alleged smugglers, the authorities claim to have confiscated more than five tons of weapons. Also yesterday about 1,500 independence-minded Kossovo Albanians held their 24th daily march in downtown Pristhina. The independence movement has grown stronger, and a western area of Kossovo is virtually controlled by the clandestine and militant Liberation Army.

    [04] GREEK PARLIAMENT COMMITTEES BRIEFED ON EMU

    Athens, May 5 (MPA)

    The deputy presidnet of the Hellenic Parliament and President of the European Affairs Committee, Loukas Apostolidis, yesterday chaired a meeting of the European affairs special permanent committee and the economic affairs permanent committee whose members he briefed on the latest developments regarding Economic and Monetary Union and a briefing on the next European affairs committee conference (COSAC). The meeting was attended by National Economy and Finance Minister Yiannos Papantoniou and Finance Undersecretary Nikos Christodoulakis. Mr. Apostolidis referred to the introduction of the euro in Europe and recognition by its partners of Greece's fast adjustment rate to targets set by the European Council. In turn, Mr. Papantoniou briefed the two committees on developments in Brussels over the past three days as well as on the government's policy over the next 18 months in an effort to achieve the targets set, stressing that dialogue and social understanding will secure a smooth course towards 2001.

    [05] Greek, Turkish women call for defense spending cutbacks

    [05] NEW ATLANTIC INITIATIVE VISITS ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH VARTHOLOMEOS

    Istanbul, May 5 (MPA)

    A delegation of the New Atlantic Initiative, which held its third annual congress in Istanbul over the weekend, met with the Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos. In his address at the dinner he hosted in honor of the delegates, the Ecumenical Patriarch stressed the contribution of the countries of eastern Europe and Russia to European integration. The New Atlantic Initiative is a foundation contributing to and promoting the conservative school of thought on strategic issues on both sides of the Atlantic.

    [06] GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN ON STATE-CHURCH RELATIONS

    Athens, May 5 (MPA)

    The government spokesperson Dimitris Reppas stated yesterday that relations between the church and state are defined by the Constitution and its laws, referring to the statements made by new Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Christodoulos. Moreover, the spokesman said that the government and political parties were exercising their policy by placing national interests above all. Archbishop Christodoulos noted during an informal dinner in Volos on Sunday that "the role of Orthodoxy in today's Europe is a leading one, and it is this role that the Church is mainly called upon to play for a substantial unity between European peoples". Christodoulos further observed that the Orthodox Church had the same role to play for the unity of the Greek nation, and as a result any effort to separate Orthodoxy from national life would be a blow to national unity and cohesion. In response to a letter signed by 52 ruling PASOK deputies and one main opposition New Democracy deputy recommending a change in the parliamentarians' oath from swearing in the name of the "Holy and Indivisible Trinity of One Essence" to swearing in the name of the Greek people and the nation", Mr. Reppas said that Constitutional revision is a parliamentary process, adding that "this position (changing the oath) is not among the government's proposals for revising the Constitution."

    [07] GREECE BECOMES PRESIDENT OF COUNCIL OF EUROPE TODAY

    Athens, May 5 (MPA)

    Greece takes over the presidency of the Council of Europe today, succeeding Germany, in a special ceremony to be held in Strasbourg this evening.

    The Greek term will be highlighted by an emphasis on human rights, namely upgrading the role of the European Court of Human Rights, the protection of human rights, cooperation between Council of Europe member-states on refugee problems and the issue of illegal immigration, according to the Alternate Foreign Minister George Papandreou.

    A number of events are to be held in Athens during the CofE presidency, among them a summit of social security ministers in Malta, an unofficial meeting of sports ministers and a meeting of representatives of the parliamentary assembly with the Committee of Permanent Representatives in Santorini.

    [08] EU COMMISSIONER REJECTS HOLBROOKE’S STATEMENT

    Paris, May 5 (MPA)

    The European Union’s Commissioner for external affairs Hans van den Broek has rejected the accusations made against the Union by the US presidential envoy for Cyprus Richard Holbrooke, after an impasse following the latter's mission to the island over the weekend. In a press conference in Nicosia yesterday, Mr. Holbrooke, said that the EU’s decision to open accession talks with Cyprus but not with Turkey was one of the reasons for his mission's impasse. Mr. van den Broek said he disagreed with the US diplomat, adding that the EU had adopted during the Luxembourg summit last December "a strategy very clearly in favor of Turkey's EU accession." Underlining Cyprus' "legitimate application" for EU accession, he said "we have worked very hard for years so that the Turkish-Cypriot community takes part in the accession talks."

    [09] GREEK COMMITTEE OF AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CELEBRATES IN THESSALONIKI

    Thessaloniki, May 5 (MPA)

    The “campaign” of the Greek committee of Amnesty International is to get underway today within the framework of worldwide celebrations for the 50-year anniversary since the adoption of the Ecumenical Declaration for Human Rights. The celebration will be held at Thessaloniki’s City Hall and will also feature a brief address by the local chairman of Amnesty International Kostis Papaioannou. Moreover, the Hellenic Parliament will celebrate the Council of Europe's (CoE) 50th year anniversary of its founding this evening , which coincides with the assumption of the CoE presidency by Athens. Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos and party leaders will address the event.

    [10] THESSALONIKI’S AIRPORT REPLACED BY KAVALA’S FOR A WEEK

    Thessaloniki, May 5 (MPA)

    Thessaloniki’s “Macedonia” airport is to be closed for maintenance works for a week during which time it will be replaced by the “Alexander the Great” airport in the northern Greek city of Kavala. Following a decision drawn by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and Olympic Airways, Kavala's airport will handle about 50 flights daily between May 8 and 14. The timetable allows 43 international flights from European countries daily and 7-8 domestic and charter flights carrying tourists from Europe. The runway works at Thessaloniki's airport are part of a month of projects to improve air access to the airport, whereflights are often postponed due to fog. Also, the airport's ILS I landing system will be upgraded to ILS II, boosting visibility by 80 percent.

    [11] CYPRIOT GOVERNMENT FAVORS DEMILITARIZATION OF ISLAND

    Nicosia, May 5 (MPA)

    The Cypriot government is in favor of demilitarizing the island and setting up an international force which would be directed by the United Nations Security Council. Cypriot government spokesman Christos Stylianides stated that a Russian proposal for demilitarization and transforming the UN peace-keeping force into an international force contains elements which Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides outlined in his proposal for the demilitarization of Cyprus. President Clerides submitted his proposal to the UN Secretary-General in December 1993 and suggested that the National Guard and the Turkish-Cypriot armed forces be disbanded in parallel with the withdrawal of Turkish forces from Cyprus. The proposal also calls for the delivery of armaments to the UN peace-keeping force for custody and the establishment of a fund where money saved from disbanding the armed forces should be deposited for the benefit of both communities. "Our firm policy was and continues to be the demilitarization of Cyprus and the presence of an international force with terms of reference from the Security Council," Mr. Stylianides said. The Russian proposal, he added, is "an indication of the interest of the Russian Federation, a permanent member of the Security Council, and the big importance of the idea for demilitarizing Cyprus.

    [12] NEW CHAIRMAN APPOINTED ON GREEK BOURSE

    Athens, May 5 (MPA)

    The governor of Macedonia- Thrace Bank, Stavros Kouniakis, will take over the post of chairman at the Athens Stock Exchange in two weeks , succeeding Manolis Xanthakis, who recently resigned. Mr. Kouniakis, who also heads the Thessaloniki Stock Exchange , intends to maintain his post there even though procedures call for his resignation from the Thessaloniki bourse. He defended this move by citing the fact that Mr. Xanthakis also headed both institutions during his term as chairman. Mr. Kouniakis praised his predecessor, stating that he radically changed the Athens share market.

    [13] PREMIER: THE COURSE TO EMU IS CRYSTAL CLEAR

    Athens, May 5 (MPA)

    Prime Minister Kostas Simitis was received by the president of the Hellenic Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos today whom he briefed on the recent decisions adopted during this weekend’ European Union Summit over the Euro and the European Monetary Union (EMU) .

    Mr. Simitis stated that the framework of the course towards the EMU is now crystal clear and this makes is equally clear to Greece as to what measures the state needs to take and what the timetables are. Tomorrow, Mr. Simitis is to brief the country’s political leaders and on Thursday will hold a press conference where he will outline the state’s policy that will ensure Greece’s accession to the EMU in the year 2001.


    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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