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Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English, 98-11-05Macedonian 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, November 5, 1998TITLES
NEWS IN DETAIL[01] CHEAPER CARS AS OF NOVEMBER, IN AN EFFORT TO CURB INFLATIONAthens, November 5 (MPA)In an effort to curb inflation, the government is accelerating its plan to reduce indirect taxes, starting with automobiles and electricity, according to the Minister of National Economy Yiannos Papantoniou.According to reports, the lower car prices will be effective as soon as November, while lower electricity prices will be enforced as of January 1, 1999. According to car importers, the reduction could mean GRD 250,000 less for an automobile of 1400 horsepower. According to the Laborers' Federation, the average consumer will pay approximately GRD2,000 less a month. Moreover, Mr. Papantoniou stressed that no new taxes will be imposed during 1999. [02] PASOK POLITICAL SECRETARIAT AND EXECUTIVE BUREAU CONVENE TODAYAthens, November 5 (MPA)Prime Minister Kostas Simitis is to chair the meetings of the ruling PASOK party's Political Secretariat, to be held this afternoon, and its Executive Bureau this evening.The participants will discuss the upcoming Central Committee meeting which will be held tomorrow and Saturday. [03] NEW PLAN PROMOTED FOR KOSOVOPrishtina, November 5 (MPA)United States envoy Christopher Hill has embarked on a series of contacts with the Serbs and Kosovo's Albanian leaders in order to promote a new plan drawn by the United Nations to reach a political solution to the Kosovo issue.Mr. Hill had a series of contacts yesterday with representatives from Kosovo's Albanian community, as well as with the European Union's envoy for Kosovo Wolfgang Petric. [04] POST OFFICE WORKERS ON STRIKE TODAYThessaloniki, November 5 (MPA)Postal workers are conducting a 24-hour strike today, in protest to the postal market-related bill which will be tabled in Parliament.The post office employees maintain that the said bill needs to be improved in order to prevent concessions in the management agreement terms which, as they say, will essentially impede the course and development of the Greek postal services. [05] PHILOXENIA '98 STARTS TODAY, S.E. EUROPE'S BIGGEST TOURISM FAIRThessaloniki, November 5 (MPA)The Helexpo-founded PHILOXENIA '98, the biggest tourism exhibition in South-East Europe, starts in Thessaloniki today, featuring 10,000 sq.m. of exhibition space and more than 350 exhibitors of the tourism industry from around the world.Greece's Minister of Development Vaso Papandreou is to inaugurate the opening of the fair, while the chairman of the Association of British Travel Agencies Steven Freudmann will be the key note speaker. Among the sectors to be represented at the four-day fair are hotels, apartment and other accommodation forms, transportation, meeting, conference and incentive travel, tour operators, nature and adventure trips, data communications and publications. PHILOXENIA reached its peak last year with 369 exhibitors. More analytically, 311 of these were from Greece while 58 from abroad. The exhibitors presented their products to 10,000 visitors of which 4,000 visitors with trade interest. This year's event is jointly organized by Thessaloniki's HELEXPO and Great Britain's REED EXHIBITIONS, a marketing company which organizes 336 exhibitors worldwide, nine of which are for the tourism sector . The collaboration agreement, which is expected to be finalized by the end of August, is expected to contribute decisively to the improvement of services offered in the area of international marketing. The two companies will sign a ten year agreement commencing in1999. [06] SWEDISH FOREIGN AID MINISTER TO VISIT GREECE THIS MONTHAthens, November 5 (MPA)Sweden's Foreign Aid Minister Pierre Schori is to arrive in Greece next week in order to address an event in Athens on the subject of "Greece and Sweden in a United Europe".The address will be given next Thursday, November 12, at the Athens Concert Hall. Mr. Schori, a close friend and associate of the late Swedish premier Olaf Palme, is known for the solidarity he showed to Greek democrats during the seven- year military dictatorship (1967-74). James Bond and the Cyprus problem [07] DEPUTY FM ON NEW EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTSAthens, November 5 (MPA)Greece's deputy Foreign Minister Yiannos Kranidiotis commented that the new European Court of Human Rights, inaugurated two days ago at Strasbourg, constitutes a milestone in the efforts promote human rights.Mr. Kranidiotis, representing Greece which presently holds the presidency of the Council of Europe, wished every success upon the court's chairman Mr. Wildhaber and underlined the significance of having chosen Greek professor Christos Rozakis for the vice-chairman's post. The new Court is being established in order to meet the increasing needs that have arisen the developments in Europe during the last decade. It will replace both the old court and the C of E's Human Rights Committee. Mr. Kranidiotis also met with the C of E's secretary-general Daniel Tarchsys. [08] A GREEK AMONG IN/AL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL'S NINE ELECTED JUDGESNew York, November 5 (MPA)The UN Security Council's General Assembly has elected nine judges to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Greece's Supreme Court Justice Dionysios Kondylis among them.Six of the elected judges will replace those who have served since 1995 on the two original Trial Chambers of the Tribunal when their terms expire on 24 May 1999. The other three judges will serve on a third Trial Chamber, established by the Security Council in April this year to facilitate the work of the Tribunal. The terms of all elected judges will expire on 24 May 2003. While the six elected to the exiting Trial Chambers will assume their post on 25 May 1999, the other three will start as soon as possible following the elections so that the new third Trial Chamber can start to function at the earliest possible date. The Tribunal, which is based in Arusha, Tanzania, was established by the Security Council on 8 November 1994 to prosecute persons accused of genocide or other violations of international humanitarian law committed in Rwanda or neighboring territories in during that year. The remaining eight judges are from South Africa, Senegal, Turkey, Slovenia, Tanzania, Russia, Norway and Jamaica. [09] C OF E APPEALS FOR WIDE PARTICIPATION IN ALBANIA'S CONSTITUTION REFERENDUMStrasbourg, November 5 (MPA)The Ministerial Committee of the Council of Europe is appealing for the widest-possible participation in the November 22's referendum for Albanian constitution revision, in order to complete the process for the benefit of the country.The appeal was presented by the C of E's president, Greece's alternate Foreign Minister George Papandreou, who expressed optimism but concurrently asked the opposition parties to adopt their positions within the institutions, without undermining them. The C of E's "special role" within the multi-faceted Group of Friends of Albania", which was founded on September 30, 1998, and the "hands-on contribution of the Secretary General's special envoy to Tirana for efforts to achieve stability", shall develop into "close collaboration with OSCE and the EU", according to the C of E. Moreover, the C of E's outgoing president, as Greece is handing over the presidium to Hungary, stated that the assurance given recently by the Albanian government, which vowed to proceed to a series of reforms in combating crime and corruption and rebuilding the democratic institutions, is optimistic. Nevertheless, Mr. Papandreou stressed that "when democratic institutions are boycotted or faced with violence in the streets, then they are undermined." In response to reporters' questions, Mr. Papandreou stated that the opposition holds a constructive role in Parliament, as the democratic process calls for. "There is democracy in Albania today, since there were democratic elections and a democratically chosen government," he said, albeit adding that it all depends on the means one uses in order to form the decisions. [10] TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS ARE THE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH FOR GREECE'S YOUTHThessaloniki, November 5 (MPA)Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for young persons in Greece where, according to statistics, between 1,700-2,000 individuals aged 17-24 are killed every year.According to orthopedics professor Panayiotis Symeonides, who presented startling data during a Western Macedonian Unions Federation conference, the number of traffic-related deaths has skyrocketed in the past 30 years. Specifically, over 40,000 Greeks lost their lives in car accidents between 1975-1995. "During the course of WWII, Greece 18,000 lost their lives and 50,000 were injured, whereas between 1976-'86 17,000 persons were killed and 400,000 others were injured or maimed for life," the professor stated. Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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