Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English, 98-10-16

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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, October 16, 1998

TITLES

[01] PARTIES ROLL UP SLEEVES FOR SECOND ROUND OF LOCAL ELECTIONS

[02] PREMIER TO MEET WITH MINSTER OF NATIONAL ECONOMY AND FINANCE

[03] NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL COMMENTS ON KOSOVO

[04] ECONOMICS NOBEL PRIZE WINNER TO ARRIVE N ATHENS NEXT WEEK

[05] GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER FAREWELLS RUSSIA'S OUTGOING AMBASSADOR

[06] AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR MEETS WITH GREEK PREMIER DURING BRIEF VISIT

[07] GREEK DEFENSE MINISTER: OUR POSITIONS ON KOSOVO HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED

[08] PREMIER TO LAUNCH INT/L BUSINESS CONFERENCE IN NORTHERN GREECE

[09] GREECE'S HELEXPO TO CO-ORGANIZE "PHILOXENIA" WITH BRITAIN'S REED

[10] GREEK BUSINESS DELEGATION TRAVELS TO LIBYA

[11] UNITED NATIONS CELEBRATES WORLD FOOD DAY TODAY

[12] FOOD CRISES ARE ON THE RISE AROUND THE WORLD, ACCORDING TO THE UN

NEWS IN DETAIL

[01] PARTIES ROLL UP SLEEVES FOR SECOND ROUND OF LOCAL ELECTIONS

Thessaloniki, October 16 (MPA)

In Thessaloniki, New Democracy-backed Vassilis Papageorgopoulos won 44.3 per cent of the vote, compared to the 31.3 per cent pulled in by PASOK's Thrasivoulos Lazarides. That gives Papageorgopoulos reason to hope for victory in the run off against Lazarides. The 15 per cent of voters who chose the Left and Progress Coalition candidate Spyros Vougias in last Sunday's race will be crucial in determining the outcome of the run off.

While the current in New Democracy remained high, due to the fact that its candidates have the lead in most municipalities, supporters of the ruling PASOK party are standing by their policy, amid comments that the message from voters was received. The party's Central Committee of prefectural and municipal elections has reconfirmed its decision to support candidates outside of the conservative circles.

[02] PREMIER TO MEET WITH MINSTER OF NATIONAL ECONOMY AND FINANCE

Athens, October 16 (MPA)

Mr. Papantoniou is expected to present the Premier with a plan of tight fiscal and revenue policy, allowing for tax reductions in order to facilitate a drop in inflation.

The cost of reducing the special consumption tax on heating oil has been calculated into the budget, along with the automobile tax reduction scheduled for June.

[03] NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL COMMENTS ON KOSOVO

Belgrade, October 16 (MPA)

Moreover, Mr. Solana warned Mr. Milosevic of the serious consequences born by a possible Serb attack against NATO‘s reconnaissance aircraft which will be monitoring the developments in Kosovo.

[04] ECONOMICS NOBEL PRIZE WINNER TO ARRIVE N ATHENS NEXT WEEK

New York, October 16 (MPA)

The Nobel laureate, an economist from India, will speak on "The political element of economic development: a tribute to Andreas Papandreou", The event will be held at the Old Parliament Building.

[05] GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER FAREWELLS RUSSIA'S OUTGOING AMBASSADOR

Athens, October 16 (MPA)

Ms. Matvienko recently accepted her nomination as Deputy Premier in charge of social policy in Russian Prime Minister Yevgeni Primakov's new government.

Mr. Pangalos wished Ms Matvienko every success in her new duties, adding that the responsibilities she was undertaking were such that we would "not want to be in her place for even 24 hours".

In turn, Ms. Matvienko expressed her gratitude to Mr. Pangalos personally and the Greek government and people for their friendliness.

She said she was leaving Greece with a "heavy heart", and promised to do all in her power, in her new post, to further develop Greek-Russian relations and for the materialization of many of the plans she did not have time to advance while ambassador to Greece.

Ms Matvienko said there was a "new momentum" in Russian-Greek relations recently that was due to joint efforts in that direction. She said Greece would always be of "primary importance" for Russia, and called for reinforcement of the cooperation between the two countries on the international scene.

Mr. Pangalos described Greece's bilateral cooperation with Russia as being of "strategic importance", noting that Russia's participation in several international organizations was of "decisive significance" and recalling the coincidence of views between Athens and Moscow on the Yugoslav problem.

The Greek Foreign Minister is scheduled to visit Moscow on October 21 when he will hold talks with members of the Russian government.

The outgoing ambassador said her government placed great importance in Mr. Pangalos' upcoming visit to Moscow, with respect to the promotion of bilateral relations as well as for reinforcing their cooperation in efforts for the resolution of international problems.

[06] AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR MEETS WITH GREEK PREMIER DURING BRIEF VISIT

Athens, October 16 (MPA)

The visit was part of a tour of all EU member-states' capitals, in view of an upcoming informal EU summit scheduled in Austria for October 24-25.

The two men discussed the upcoming summit which will deal with the future of the European Union after introduction of the EU's common currency, the euro. The summit will also deal with issues such as the EU's role on a global level, internal security (combating crime and drug trafficking), employment, and social and foreign policy.

Mr. Simitis said after the talks that the EU has made great achievements towards the single market. But, he added, the question remaining was "what will follow European Monetary Union and how Europe can intervene on an international level to secure stability and make progress on major issues such as employment, social policy and internal security so as to have a new European dynamism".

In turn, Mr. Klima noted that the EU has already started accession negotiations with six candidate-countries, including Cyprus. Moreover, Mr. Klima added that the European Commission will present a progress report at the December-held EU summit in Vienna for another five nations wishing to enter the EU but not on an accession course.

Commenting on Turkey's European prospects, the Austrian chancellor said that Ankara has failed to meet the criteria for EU accession.

The talks were also attended by Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos and Alternate Foreign Minister George Papandreou.

[07] GREEK DEFENSE MINISTER: OUR POSITIONS ON KOSOVO HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED

Thessaloniki, October 16 (MPA)

Mr. Tsochatzopoulos said the Greek government has insisted the crisis in Kosovo should be approached through a political solution and the use of force should be avoided.

He also added that he had insisted "quite emphatically, that all political efforts for a political and diplomatic solution (to the crisis) should first be exhausted."

Mr. Tsochatzopoulos reiterated that Greece welcomed and supported the agreement reached between US mediator Richard Holbrooke and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and stressed that with its stance, the country had shown itself to be "a reliable factor which guarantees its contribution to stability, peace and cooperation".

[08] PREMIER TO LAUNCH INT/L BUSINESS CONFERENCE IN NORTHERN GREECE

Alexandroupolis, October 16 (MPA)

Expected to attend the conference are officials from seventy six countries including ministers, ambassadors, trade attaches and bank governors.

Among the items on the agenda are energy networks, transport, telecommunications, small and medium-sized enterprises, and peace and security in the region.

Moreover, the event will review the prospects for a new economic area after the year 2000 spanning the Mediterranean, Balkans and Black Sea.

Greece's Alternate Foreign Minister George Papandreou, who is also the head of the conference's organizing committee, has personally called on the delegates to forge contacts in order to help expand cooperation in the region.

Organizing the event is the Foundation for Mediterranean Cooperation, backed by the European Parliament, the European Investment Bank, the Foundation for Mediterranean Studies and local authorities in the north.

[09] GREECE'S HELEXPO TO CO-ORGANIZE "PHILOXENIA" WITH BRITAIN'S REED

Thessaloniki, October 16 (MPA)

The organizer of Thessaloniki's international trade fair HELEXPO will co-operate with Great Britain's Reed in order to further promote the Greek exhibition abroad and will bring technological know-how to Greece.

Among the first results of the said agreements is the publication of the "Travel Weekly" periodical, which will be distributed by HELEXPO in Greece, the Balkans, Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean.

[10] GREEK BUSINESS DELEGATION TRAVELS TO LIBYA

Thessaloniki, October 16 (MPA)

The participants will explore sectors concerning irrigation systems, electronics, containers, clothing, medical and pharmaceutical products, fruits and vegetables, tobacco, etc.

[11] UNITED NATIONS CELEBRATES WORLD FOOD DAY TODAY

New York, October 16 (MPA)

At a press conference held in light of today's World Food Day, Mr. Diouf urged the international community to enact measures that would promote equality between women and men.

The UN official said the theme "women feed the world" had been selected to "pay tribute to the significant role of women in agriculture, fisheries and forestry and their enormous contribution to household and national food security."

In many countries, Mr. Diouf noted, the production of staple food, cash crops and livestock relied heavily on women's labor.

"Most of their back- breaking work is unpaid, or grossly underpaid," he said. According to FAO, women have limited rights -- and in some cases no rights - - to own the land they farm. Their social privileges can be restricted and they often have little or no access to credit, training and the technology needed to improve agricultural productivity. Most of the women among the ranks of the world's food producers have no voice in matters that concern their household's livelihood. Making their cases heard is not merely a matter of justice, said Dr. Diouf. "If food security for all is to become reality, decisions that affect future generations must be based on the perceived needs and priorities of these women today."

[12] FOOD CRISES ARE ON THE RISE AROUND THE WORLD, ACCORDING TO THE UN

New York, October 16 (MPA)

In light of today's World Food Day, the United Nations reported that many more people in the world are suffering from malnutrition and hunger, compared to merely one year ago.

WFP has had to greatly increase its food aid to millions of people due to the increase in natural disasters, economic emergencies and man-made catastrophes, said Catherine Bertini, the Executive Director of WFP.

The United Nations food agency attributed the increase in the number of the food crises to devastating floods and drought caused by the El Nino phenomenon in Africa and Asia, the economic down- turn in Southeast Asia, and the wars and civil strife in parts of Africa and the Balkans.

Ms. Bertini said it was now more important than ever to bring the "hunger agenda" to the attention of the international community. She added that this year's crises were an indication that people could be thrown into a "hunger trap" in a moment's notice, whether by the usual culprits of war and weather or by the seemingly less probable problems of economic recession and instability.

The head of WFP said she was, at the same time, concerned about the ongoing plight of more than 800 million people around the world who are chronically undernourished as a result of abject poverty. She stressed that irrespective of the causes of hunger, continued assistance would be necessary to stabilize the situation of the most vulnerable people.

WFP has responded to emergencies around the world by expanding the number of its operations. Its major programs include provision of food assistance to people in the Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Korea, Bangladesh, the People's Republic of China, Kosovo, Albania and Indonesia.

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