Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English, 98-12-10

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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, December 10, 1998

TITLES

[01] SEVERE WEATHER IN NORTHERN GREECE, TEMPERATURES BELOW ZERO

[02] COMMERCIAL BANKS REDUCE INTEREST RATES

[03] US ENVOY FOR CYPRUS RICHARD HOLBROOKE IN ATHENS ON MONDAY

[04] NATO INAUGURATES 'EXTRACTION FORCE' IN KOSOVO TODAY

[05] ATHINA ONASSIS' FATHER SENTENCED FOR SLANDER BY GREEK COURT

[06] UN: GREEKS AMONG WORLD'S BEST FED, SOMALIANS ARE HUNGRIEST

[07] ASIA'S CHIEF OLYMPIC OFFICIAL: PARIS DOESN'T DESERVE 2008 GAMES

[08] GREEK TAXI DRIVERS GO ON 24-HOUR STRIKE

[09] MACEDONIA AIRPORT REOPENS, FILIGHTS RESUME

[10] GREECE'S DEFENSE MINSTER COMMENTS ON ESP'S MANIFESTO

[11] BALKAN SOCIALIST PARTIES TO MEET IN THESSALONIKI NEXT MONTH

[12] PREMIER IN VIENNA FOR EUROPEAN UNION SUMMIT

[13] GREECE'S ALTERNATE FM ON INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DAY

[14] STATE SPOKESMAN: THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE JUDGED BY ITS WORK

[15] PARIS TO HOLD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RIGAS FEREOS

[16] RUSSIAN COMMUNIST PARTY'S CC CHIEF MEETS WITH KKE OFFICIALS

NEWS IN DETAIL

[01] SEVERE WEATHER IN NORTHERN GREECE, TEMPERATURES BELOW ZERO

Thessaloniki, December 10 (MPA)

Cars are required to be equipped with anti-ski chains, while a jeep with four passengers was rescued at the outskirts of Thessaloniki yesterday after having been immobilized overnight.

Many villages remain inaccessible due to the heavy snow fall. A.F.

[02] COMMERCIAL BANKS REDUCE INTEREST RATES

Athens, December 10 (MPA)

National Bank, the largest commercial bank, weighed in almost immediately with a series of loan and deposit rate reductions. It slashed its working capital loan rate to 13.75 percent, its house loan interest rate to 13.75%, while its consumer loans of up to one million drachmas will bear a 16.75% interest rate. Eurobank and the Labor Bank have also reduced their rates. A.F.

[03] US ENVOY FOR CYPRUS RICHARD HOLBROOKE IN ATHENS ON MONDAY

Athens, December 10 (MPA)

Mr. Holbrooke's visit to Athens is part of his tour of the region. and he is also expected to visit Ankara. and Nicosia. He will be received by Greece's Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos.

Mr. Reppas stated that it was positive that the international community was showing an "active interest" in the resolution of the Cyprus issue. A.F.

[04] NATO INAUGURATES 'EXTRACTION FORCE' IN KOSOVO TODAY

Skopje, December 10 (MPA)

The force -- made up of French, British, German, Italian and Dutch troops -- is to enter Kosovo if any of the 2,000 unarmed peace monitors now present at Kosovo are endangered According to a NATO statement, the inaugural ceremony will be held in Kumanovo, a town near the Kosovo border where the 1,700-man force under French command will be based.

French airlift of soldiers and supplies that began during the weekend is to wind up on Friday, according to French military officials who added that more

French personnel are traveling by sea via Greece. A.F.

[05] ATHINA ONASSIS' FATHER SENTENCED FOR SLANDER BY GREEK COURT

Athens, December 10 (MPA)

Thierry Roussel, who immediately filed an appeal and was not detained, was sued by the four Greek trustees for slander, perjury and filing a false lawsuit after he lost a court case in which he accused them of financial mismanagement. A.F.

[06] UN: GREEKS AMONG WORLD'S BEST FED, SOMALIANS ARE HUNGRIEST

Rome, December 10 (MPA)

The map illustrates the nutritional intake in 177 countries from 1994 to 1996. After Denmark, the countries with the most food are Portugal, Ireland, the United States and Greece, respectively. Eritrea, Afghanistan, Burundi and Mozambique are among the hungriest.

The FAO said that more than 800 million people in developing countries are chronically undernourished and that two billion more suffer from deficiencies of vitamin A, iron and iodine.

People in prosperous countries consume an average of 3,340 calories a day, compared with 2,060 in developing countries. Anything less than 2,100 poses a risk of malnutrition. In Somalia, people consume an average of 1,580 calories a day. A.F.

[07] ASIA'S CHIEF OLYMPIC OFFICIAL: PARIS DOESN'T DESERVE 2008 GAMES

Bangkok, December 10 (MPA)

According to the Associated Press, Sheikh Ahmad Al- Sabah said that '2008 is a time when the Olympics should return to Asia, especially with the success of Seoul in 1988 and Nagano."

He further added that 'there is a tradition in the Olympic family that when you have the games in Europe, the next games will be out of Europe. The next one (after Sydney, Australia in 2000) will be in Athens so then it will be the turn of the other continents."

International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch said that there are no set rules under the IOC charter preventing consecutive Summer Games in Europe.

Paris declared its plan to bid this week despite earlier reports that France would not bid if China was interested. Chinese officials say they are considering a bid, expected for Beijing. A.F.

[08] GREEK TAXI DRIVERS GO ON 24-HOUR STRIKE

Thessaloniki, December 10 (MPA)

The cabbies are claiming that the finance ministry reneged on earlier agreements concerning taxation and are also asking for flag-falling raises. Presently, the flag-fall rate is 200 drachmas, possibly the cheapest in Europe. A.F.

[09] MACEDONIA AIRPORT REOPENS, FILIGHTS RESUME

Thessaloniki, December 10 (MPA)

The airport's runaways were cleared of frost and ice which had prevented the aircraft from landing yesterday. The temperatures in the area remain low, dipping to minus eight degrees Celcius in western Macedonia. A.F.

[10] GREECE'S DEFENSE MINSTER COMMENTS ON ESP'S MANIFESTO

Brussels, December 10 (MPA)

Greece's Defense Minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos, who is also the European Socialist Party's vice-president, attended yesterday's meeting, along with Yianos Kranidiotis, Greece's Deputy Foreign Minister.

Mr. Tsochatzopoulos said that the socialist manifesto was one the latest approaches to the ESP's electoral strategy.

It is a text containing the socialists' positions on European affairs, employment, development, expansion, economic and monetary union (EMU) and the euro.

He added that security issues were also covered in the socialist manifesto and announced that another meeting will be held early next year.

Mr. Kranidiotis said that amendments to the socialist manifesto satisfied Greek positions as taken by PASOK on unemployment, economic development, taxation harmonization, EMU and the identity of European defense. A.F.

[11] BALKAN SOCIALIST PARTIES TO MEET IN THESSALONIKI NEXT MONTH

Thessaloniki, December 10 (MPA)

Mr. Tsochatzopoulos stated that the conference will address Balkan security issues, as well as regional development.

Referring to the basic Greek positions being promoted through the manifesto, the Defense Minster stated that they are the ruling PASOK party's basic policies that promote Europe's economic, developmental and society strengths. A.F.

[12] PREMIER IN VIENNA FOR EUROPEAN UNION SUMMIT

Vienna, December 10 (MPA)

Mr. Simitis is accompanied by Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos and the National Economy and Finance Minister Yiannos Papantoniou.

The European Council will focus primarily on employment, the "Agenda 2000" reform program, and EU enlargement.

With regard to "Agenda 2000", the EU's Austrian presidency is expected to table proposals on solutions to key issues.

The proposals will constitute a working base for the EU's German presidency which will succeed the Austrian presidency in the first half of 1999.

This evening the Greek Premier will attend a summit of leaders of the European Socialist Party (ESP), along with the other 10 socialist and social-democrat prime ministers of the EU. A.F.

[13] GREECE'S ALTERNATE FM ON INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DAY

Athens, December 10 (MPA)

Mr. Papandreou also stated that Greece has illustrated, during its term as president of the Council of Europe as well as through its activities within the European Union that it is a warrior of human rights protection.

'The Greek government considers the productive protection of human rights to a basic component of our foreign policy,' he stated. A.F.

[14] STATE SPOKESMAN: THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE JUDGED BY ITS WORK

Athens, December 10 (MPA)

The government, he stated, is judged by its work, while the opposition is judged by its words, which can actually make them even likable.

Mr. Reppas said that that the ruling party wants to complete its work and by judged by its deeds.

'We await the judgment of the Greek people,' he said. A.F.

[15] PARIS TO HOLD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RIGAS FEREOS

Athens, December 10 (MPA)

The event is titled "Les Lumieres en Europe et dans le sud - est europeen: Rhigas Velestinlis (1757-1798) intellectuel et combattant de la liberte, precurseur de la liberation nationale des peuples balkaniques" ("Enlightment in Europe and the southeastern European area: Rigas Velestinlis {1757- 1798}intellectual and fighter of freedom, precursor of national liberation of the Balkan peoples).

It will be held between December 12-13 and will feature historians and other experts from both Greece and France. A.F.

[16] RUSSIAN COMMUNIST PARTY'S CC CHIEF MEETS WITH KKE OFFICIALS

Athens, December 10 (MPA)

Mr. Zyuganov met with KKE's secretary-general Aleka Paparega and honorary president Harilaos Florakis with whom he discussed the ongoing developments in the Balkan region and was briefed on the political developments in Greece, as well as the mobilizations in the country's education sector.

During a press conference, Mr. Zyuganov expressed concern about the situation in Russia, maintaining that President Boris Yeltsin's "experiment" in establishing "mafia-like capitalism" had led to disaster.

"Now, the new government is trying to tackle the problems," Mr. Zyuganov said, stressing that the Communist Party had restructured and was at the present time the best organized party in Russia.

Mr. Zyuganov indicated that he was optimistic about the result of the presidential elections, regardless of when they were held. He stressed though that they must be honest, "which was not the case in 1996". For this reason, he added, his party was cooperating with the new government of Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov.

Mr. Zyuganov officially invited Ms. Paparega to visit Moscow. This was his first official visit to Greece. A.F.

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