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Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English, 99-04-02Macedonian 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, April 2, 1999TITLES
NEWS IN DETAIL[01] US MARINE PLATOON TRAVELS TO SKOPJE THROUGH THESSALONIKIThessaloniki, April 2 (MPA)A platoon of approximately 50 US marines arrived by US air force planes in Thessaloniki yesterday, with FYROM being the final destination.According to reports, the platoon will join a marine force already in Skopje in protecting the US embassy in FYROM's capital. Meanwhile, planes transporting humanitarian aid to FYROM and Albanian continue to land at Thessaloniki's 'Macedonia' airport. A.F. [02] THREE US SOLDIERS TO APPEAR BEFORE MILITARY COURT TODAYBelgrade, April 2 (MPA)Military court proceedings are to begin today for the three U.S. Army soldiers who were captured by Serb forces on Yugoslav soil yesterday.According to the Yugoslav news agency Tanjug, four Tomahawk missiles struck a military camp in Vrania last night, 300 kilometers south of Belgrade. United State President Bill Clinton stated that he will hold Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic personally responsible for the three soldiers' fate. Meanwhile, Mr. Milosevic met with the leader of Kosovo's ethnic Albanians Ibrahim Rugova in Belgrade yesterday and both expressed their commitment to reaching a political solution for the crisis. A.F. [03] YUGOSLAVIA'S GENERAL ARMY STAFF LEADER REPLACEDBelgrade, April 2 (MPA)Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has reshuffled the country's army leadership. The leader of the Yugoslav General Army staff has been replaced by Gen. Miodrag Simic, while Gen. Radomir Ristic will now serve as alternate minister of Civil Protection.Meanwhile,. USD envoy Richard Holbrooke, speaking on a U.S. television program, stated that the Yugoslav leader is a 'formidable adversary'. Mr. Holbrooke praised NATO's Operation Allied Force, by stating that "this tragedy in Kosovo has been a noble undertaking. " A.F. [04] ETHNIC ALBANIANS FLEE KOSOVO BY THE THOUSANDSPrishtina, April 2 (MPA)Thousands of ethnic Albanians have fled Kosovo, crossing either by foot or bus into neighboring Albania, FYROM and Montenegro. The organization for Security and Cooperation Europe stated that dozens of buses are required for the transport of 20,000 refugees presently at the Albanian border.Approximately 14,000 are already in FYROM, while Greece has sent humanitarian aid to Belgrade, Tirana and Skopje. A.F. [05] GREEK DEFENSE MINISTER MEETS WITH ROMANIAN COUNTERPARTBucharest, April 2 (MPA)Greece's Defense Minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos, presently on a tour through the Balkans, is to visit Sofia this morning where he will meet with his Bulgarian counterpart Georgi Ananiev, Foreign Minister Nadezda Mihailova and Prime Minister Ivan Kostov.Later today, Mr. Tsochatzopoulos will travel to FYROM where he will be received by President Kiro Gligorov, Prime Minister Ljupco Georgievski, Foreign Minister Alexander Dimitrov and Defense Minister Nikola Klusev. In his talks with his Romanian counterpart Victor Babiuk in Bucharest yesterday, the Greek Defense Minister reiterated Greece's wish to see the Kosovo crisis resolved through peaceful means. Messrs. Tsochatzopoulos and Babiuk agreed that a solution to the Kosovo crisis could only be reached through political and diplomatic means, while they both emphasized their opposition to a change in Balkan borders. "No change in existing borders in Yugoslavia and, more generally, Balkan countries is acceptable in the name of autonomy or the protection of the rights of minorities," Mr. Tsochatzopoulos said. In turn, Mr. Babiuk said that his country is "treating the NATO intervention as a means and not an end in itself." NATO has intervened "to force (Yugoslav President) Milosevic to the negotiating table," he said and added that "the operations will continue until Milosevic changes stance." Mr. Tsochatzopoulos said that "the developments in Kosovo are of concern to the peace, stability and security of the Balkans and so are an issue for all the countries of the region" and reiterated Athens' position that Greece, as a neighboring country, could not participate directly in the offensive because this would be a destabilizing factor. A.F. [06] BURNS: UNITED STATES SUPPORT INVIOLABILITY OF GREEK BORDERSThessaloniki, April 2 (MPA)United States Ambassador to Athens Nicholas Burns has stated that Washington supports the inviolability of Greece's borders.Speaking to an Athens daily 'To Vima', Ambassador Burns also said that the Kosovo crisis will not create conflict between Greece and Turkey. 'The United States support Greece's territorial integrity and the inviolability of its borders, ' Mr. Burns said. 'Of course, we understand the fact that Greece is the only NATO members that is also a Southeast European country. The U.S. do not believe that the Kosovo crisis will create a conflict between Greece and Turkey. What President Clinton said was that both country can be affected separately, albeit negatively, from the conflict,' he added. A.F. [07] THESSALONIKI IS 'KEY SITE' FOR NATO, US PENTAGON STATESWashington, April 2 (MPA)Thessaloniki, with its port, airport and infrastructure, is 'of vital importance to for NATO's forces' a United States Pentagon official stated during a press briefing today.Coloner Ricahrd Bridges, director of Defense Information, briefing the Greek press correspondents in Washington, stated that Greece's stance was 'courageous', given the country's geographical position in the region. He further stressed that Greece's contributioon to Operation Allied Forces in especially significant, both for the United States and NATO, as it allows for the transport of NATO troops through Thessaloniki's port and airport to FYROM. Esarlier today, a U.S. govenremtn officals stated that there are presently no plans to deploy ground troops to Kosovo, pointing out that in the case of the Persian Gulf it took a number of months to develop the multinational force. A.F. [08] KOSOVO REFUGEES IN GREECE ONLY ON EXTRAORDINARY OCCASIONSThessaloniki, April 2 (MPA)Greece will take in refugees from Kosovo only on extraordinary occasions, stated the Minister of Macedonia- Thrace Yiannis Magriotis prior to the Cabinet meeting today.Undersecretary of the Interior George Florides also stated that there are no problems and the Greek borers are being sufficiently safeguarded. Foreign Minister George Papandreou has reiterated Greece's advocacy to resolving the Kosovo crisis through political means, while the Undersecretary of Defense Dimitris Apostolakis stressed that Greece is not alarmed by Turkey's interest in Albania. A.F. [09] GREEKS CONDUCT TWO-HOUR WORK STOPPAGE IN PROTEST TO RAIDSThessaloniki, April 2 (MPA)Greece's economic and commercial sectors are to come to a standstill this afternoon as the country's largest labor unions and organizations are to conduct a two-hour work stoppage in protest to NATO's raids in Yugoslavia.The General Confederation of Greek Laborers, the Civil Servants Union and the retailers and manufacturers labor unions have organized the stoppage, to be held between 1-3 pm. As a result, the railway and marine transportation sectors are to operate with a skeleton crew, while public agencies, ministries and school will be closed. At the same time, various bank accounts have been opened in the country in order to amass donations for the Kosovo refugees. Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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