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Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English, 98-06-22Macedonian 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, June 22, 1998TITLES
NEWS IN DETAIL[01] FYROM FOREIGN MINISTER ARRIVES TODAY ON OFFICIAL VISITAthens, June 22 (MPA)FYROM’s foreign minister Blagoje Hatzinski begins an official two-day visit to Greece today and is expected to raise the issue of the name of his country in his meetings with Greek government officials. In an interview published in the Greek newspaper “To Vima” yesterday, Mr. Hatzinski rules out any change to Skopje's name, saying his compatriots would refuse such a proposal "100 percent" if a referendum were held on the issue. Mr. Hatzinski said no resolution of the name issue would nevertheless require Greece and FYROM to "learn to live with the problem with dignity as their strategic interests coincide in 99 percent of cases."[02] HOLBROOKE TO ARRIVE IN ATHENS TODAYAthens, June 22 (MPA)Newly appointed U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and special envoy for Cyprus Richard Holbrooke is to arrive in Athens today for talks with senior officials over rising tensions with neighboring Turkey. Mr. Holbrooke is the guest of an American college in Athens and will also hold talks with top foreign ministry officials on issues including Cyprus and Greek-Turkish relations,'' a Greek government official said yesterday. He will be accompanied on his visit by State Department special coordinator for Cyprus Thomas Miller. Turkish President Suleiman Demirel is to visit the occupied territory of Cyprus on June 28.[03] UNIVERSITY ENTRANCE EXAMS CONTINUE IN PHYSICS, ANCIENT GREEKThessaloniki, June 22 (MPA)Greek high school graduates who have their eyes set on college are being examined today on the courses of physics and ancient Greek. Tomorrow, students who are vying for a seat in law, public administration and social science-related departments, will be examined in the course of Civic Economy.[04] EU COMMISSIONER VAN DER BROEK: END VIOLENCE IN KOSSOVOBrussels, June 22 (MPA)The European Union’s Commissioner on Foreign Affairs Hans Van Der Broek has issued an appeal to all involved parties that the violence in Kossovo be stopped.Having reiterated the EU’s firm stance on immediately halting all acts of violence, Mr. Van Der Broek stressed the need to established channels of dialogue between the two sides. [05] IONIAN BANK WORKERS RETURN TO WORK, CALL OFF STRIKEAthens, June 22 (MPA)Employees at Ionian Bank are returning to work today, having completed 46 days of strike, since shareholders in Ionian's parent company Commercial Bank voted on Friday to sell a 51 percent stake in the bank. Employees at Ionian Bank had been on a rolling strike since May 11, protesting the privatization, despite court rulings that declared the strike illegal. The strike was marked by several violent clashes which culminated in workers disrupting the Bank's annual general meeting on Friday. The bank’s employees have vowed to resort to the courts in order to declare the shareholders’ general assembly illegal. The privatization is a key part of the Greek government's plan to restructure public sector companies in preparation for possible membership in the European Monetary Union. On hearing of the end of the strike, both Commercial Bank management and National Economy and Finance Minister Yiannos Papantoniou reiterated an earlier commitment to safeguarding jobs and pension rights of Ionian’s employees.[06] NATO EXERCISE “PROMETHEUS ‘98” UNDERWAY IN NORTHERN GREECEThessaloniki, June 22 (MPA)NATO’s military exercise “Prometheus ‘98”, held within the framework of the Partnership for Peace program, got underway in the city of Kilkis, in Northern Greece yesterday.The exercise, which is set to last until June 30, features the participation of soldiers from three NATO member- states, namely Italian, Dutch and Greek, as well as three Balkan countries, Armenia, Bulgaria and FYROM. [07] LABOR UNDERSECRETARY: WE MUST WIN LOST GROUND IN IONIAN BANKThessaloniki, June 22 (MPA)The undersecretary of Labor Christos Protopappas has issued an appeal to all sides involved in the conflict surrounding the privatization of the Ionian Bank to work together in order to voice the lost ground.Mr. Protopappas stated that the bank’s image has suffered a blow and has lost clients as a result of its employees lengthy strike but stressed that it must be supported at this critical time. Moreover, the Undersecretary stated that the declaration for the Bank’s sale will contain specific clauses that will ensure the present labor conditions. [08] GREEK-ORIGIN POLITICIANS TO MEET IN GREECE IN JULYThessaloniki, June 22 (MPA)Thanks to an initiative taken by alternate Foreign Minister George Papandreou, Greek-origin politicians who live abroad have been invited to meet in Greece on July 19-25.The participants will have the opportunity to meet with Greek political and state leaders, while on July 23 they will be able to attend a seminar organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and which will address issues of mutual interest. [09] MEMORIAL SERVICE HELD FOR ANDREAS PAPANDREOUAthens, June 22 (MPA)Commemorative events marking the second anniversary of the death of prime minister and founder of the ruling socialist PASOK party Andreas Papandreou are being continued today. A photography exhibition is to be inaugurated at the Zappeion Mansion this evening, while the Hellenic Parliament will hold a memorial in the late political leader’s honor tomorrow. A memorial service was held yesterday at the Athens First Cemetery, attended by Prime Minister Kostas Simitis, members of the government, PASOK deputies and officials, Parliament President Apostolos Kaklamanis, members of the Papandreou family, Andreas Papandreou's widow Dimitra Liani-Papandreou and a large crowd of people.[10] RUSSIAN FM: GIVE MORE TIME TO MILOSEVIC FOR TALKS WITH ALBANIANSLondon, June 22 (MPA)Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeni Primakov has stated that the President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosevic should be given greater leeway -in terms of time- to hold talks with Kossovo’s ethnic Albanians.Moreover, the Russian diplomat indirectly supported Mr. Milosevic’s refusal to withdraw the Serb troops from Kossovo by pointing out the consequences of such move. “It would be extremely dangerous to remove the Serb security troops from Kossovo,” Mr. Primakov is quoted as having said, since, as he further explained, this would mean that the 150,000 Serbs who reside in the area would have to abandon their homes. Mr. Primakov also criticized the United States for the “unilateral” stance they have adopted in the Kossovo crisis issue. According to Mr. Primakov, additional pressures to hold talks must be exerted on the region’s Albanians as well. Moscow’s differentiated stance from that adopted by the international community is a somewhat sore subject for the western leaders who are pressuring the Serb president to uphold his commitments. Mr. Milosevic has refused to withdraw the Serb troops from the conflict-stricken region before all terrorist activity ceases in Kossovo. Russia, a member of the “Contact Group”, is opposed to enforcing military measures against Serbia. [11] IRAQ-TURKEY INVOLVED IN ILLICIT FUEL TRADE, THE U.S. ACKNOWLEDGEWashington, June 22 (MPA)The United States have acknowledged that Iraq smuggles vast quantities in fuel on an annual basis through Turkey and State Department officials have said it was inevitable some oil would get through. The illicit trade is a violation of United Nations sanctions imposed on Iraq but is apparently tolerated by Turkey's Western allies.According to the US daily " The New York Times ", which quotes high-ranking American and Turkish government officials, the Clinton Administration is aware of what is going on at the Iraq-Turkey border but is turning a “blind eye” since the illicit trade greatly benefits Turkey, a country which is considered to be a strong ally for The US’s policy against Iraq, whi8le it also benefits the Kurds who live in northern Iraq and are challenging Saddam Husein’s authority in the region. ``There inevitably is going to be some cross-border traffic in Turkey,'' White House spokesman Mike McCurry said, albeit adding that this illicit trade is only marginally affecting the sanctions against Iraq. According to UN estimates, Mr. McCurry said, the sanctions cost Iraq 15 billion dollars per year while the sale of oil through Turkey is bringing in only 100 million dollars a year. Moreover, Mr. McCurry added that the Turkish government, which -as he stated- supports the sanctions against Iraq, has expressed its understanding of the State Department’s concerns over the smuggling and has stated that it will attempt to address the issue. [12] FRANCE TO SET FORTH CYRPUS ISSUE AT EU POLITICAL COMMITTEEBrussels, June 22 (MPA)France intends to set forth the matter of the tension that recently arose between Greece and Turkey over Cyprus, as well as the Cyprus issue itself, during the European Union’s Political Committee that is to convene in Brussels today.In light of this initiative, western diplomats are now under the impression that both French President Chiraq and Premier Lionel Jospen are scrambling to restore their country’s ties with Turkey, following the resolution adopted by France’s National Assembly which recognized the Armenians genocide by the Turks. The same diplomats opine that the French leaders are “fearing” Turkey will actually carry out its threat to bar French companies from the bidding process for purchasing armament systems worth billions of dollars. According to the BBC, during today’s meeting of the political directors of the EU’s Foreign Ministries, the Greek representative plans to remind all of the EU allies that France - in a peculiar way- appears to be actively interested in Greek-Turkish relations, and especially for the Cyprus issue, a matter in which it had not taken any initiative to date. Political observers in Brussels assess that this French initiative is actually serving the country’s interests in its efforts to appear likable to Turkey. [13] MOSCOW’S MAYOR IN ATHENS FOR LIGHTING OF OLYMPIC FLAMEAthens, June 22 (MPA)Moscow’s Mayor Yuri Luzkov is to depart for Greece today where he will receive the Olympic flame that will be transported by a group of Russian athletes back to the Russian capital.The flame will be used to light the Olympic torch on July 13 at Moscow’s Luzniki stadium which will host the world youth championships. Mr. Luzkov will stay in Greece for two days and will have talks with his Athens counterpart Dimitris Avramopoulos. [14] ARMED CONFLICT CONTINUES IN KOSSOVOPrishtina, June 22 (MPA)Armed conflict continues between the Serb forces and the Albanian rebels at Decani and Jacovica in Kossovo, according to the Croat news agency HINA.The Democratic Alliance of Kossovo reported that the armed conflict in Decani continues while Serb forces have bombarded a number of villages in the region and looted Albanian homes which in turn they burned down. The government press center in Prishtina reported that a group of armed Albanians raided the Ducevic village, killing an 18-year-old Serb . [15] GREECE EARNS SILVER MEDAL IN BICYCLE WORLD CUP RACESThessaloniki, June 22 (MPA)Greece’s national bicycling team earned the silver medal in yesterday’s world cup races geld in France.The three-men team, Dimitris Georgalis, George Cheimonetos and Labros Vasilopoulos came second after the French. Last week, the Greek team have finished fifth in Berlin’s world cup races. [16] PLAYERS TRANSFERS PROCEED SMOOTHLY IN GREEK SOCCERThessaloniki, June 22 (MPA)The transfer process of players in Greek soccer’s major league is proceeding smoothly.The transfer of “Doxa’s ” (Drama) Kostas Kyriakides to PAOK fell on dead water as the home team was asking for 70 million drachmas. PAOK is still awaiting Panionio’s response on whether or not Tasos Katsiabis will be transferred, while the transfer of Pantelis Konstantinides from Athens’ “Apollo” is underway. Hercules’ two new players from FYROM, Kiro Doicinovski and Blanco Georgiev are to be part of the Thessaloniki team tomorrow. As for Olympiakos, foreign names are coming and going, among them Nigeria’s J.J. Okoca and Paraguay’s Akuna. 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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