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Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English, 99-04-16Macedonian 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 16, 1999TITLES
NEWS IN DETAIL[01] RAIDS CONTINUE, FOURTH WEEK OF WAR UNDER WAYBelgrade, April 16 (MPA)NATO aircraft continued to pound key structures throughout Yugoslavia, targeting oil refineries in Pancevo, Novisaad, Subotica and Podgorica, Montenegro’s capital city.According to the Yugoslav news agency Tanjug, Allied missiles struck a shelter for Bosnian and Croat refugees, with no victims being reported. United States President Bill Clinton said that the Alliance will continue its raids on Yugoslavia. In an emergency supplemental spending request submitted to Congress, Mr. Clinton asked for an additional $5.9 billion for the air strikes. A.F. [02] GREECE TAKES INITIATIVES FOR PEACE IN THE BALKANSAthens, April 16 (MPA)Senior foreign ministry officials from Balkan countries will be in Athens on Monday in order to discuss the content of a proposal for Balkan security to be presented at the forthcoming NATO summit in the United States.The proposal is an Athens initiative and is expected to be a joint communique on general principles for stability, peace and the prosperity of Balkan countries. Officials from Yugoslavia have been invited to attend the informal meeting but have not yet replied as to whether they will. A.F. [03] CLINTON PLEDGES PRIORITY TO IMPROVING G/T RELATIONSWashington, April 16 (MPA)United States President Bill Clinton has pledged to make the improvement of Greek-Turkish relations a priority of his Administration’s tasks. Speaking before the American Society of Newspaper Editors in San Francisco, President Clinton conceded that relations between the two neighboring countries did not improve during his six years in office, nevertheless, neither did they worsen, he pointed out. A.F.[04] NATO ADMITS IT ERRED, BUT SAYS ITS MILOSEVIC’S FAULTBrussels, April 16 (MPA)NATO has expressed regret for Wednesday's “accidental” attack on a convoy of refugees near Djakovica, where an allied aircraft dropped a bomb on civilian vehicles, killing 75 persons and wounding another 25.The Alliance said the NATO pilots involved in the attack mistakenly thought they were targeting a military convoy. In spite of the regret, the allied forces are determined to press on with the attacks, as NATO spokesman Jamie Shea stressed. British Prime Minister Tony Blair said ultimate responsibility for the attack lay with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, because his campaign of "ethnic cleansing" against Kosovo's Albanians had precipitated the attack. "Of course we regret these things deeply when they happen. But that should not make us flinch from placing responsibility for this conflict squarely on the shoulders of ... Milosevic," he said. A.F. [05] GREEK PREMIER MEETS WITH BULGARIAN COUNTERPART IN SOFIAApril 16 (MPA)Greece’s Prime Minister Kostas Simitis met with his Bulgarian counterpart Ivan Kostov in Sofia yesterday, where both leaders agreed on the need to intensify initiatives concerning the Kosovo crisis. "We believe there must be initiatives to achieve peace as soon as possible. In this context, we hail the involvement or the decision for a more active presence of the UN in facing the problem," Mr. Simitis said. Mr. Kostov stated that both Greece and Bulgaria are in favor of a speedy, peaceful and just resolution of the crisis, “considering that a scenario of a prolonged crisis without a peaceful solution will not only cause huge economic losses, but also social and political destabilization of another kind.” Messrs. Kostov and Simitis called for an immediate end to the NATO bombings of Yugoslavia and the convening of a conference of Balkan countries, including Yugoslavia, under the European Union’s auspices. A.F.[06] EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ADOPTS ANTI-SERBIA RESOLUTIONBrussels, April 16 (MPA)The European Parliament has adopted a draft resolution denouncing Serbia and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.The resolution calls on President Milosevic to withdraw Yugoslav troops from Kosovo, allow the return of refugees to Kosovo, agree to the deployment of an international force in the region and create the conditions that would lead to a political resolution of the crisis. The draft bill was voted by 313 MPs, with 78 voting against, and 29 abstaining. Concurrently, the Parliament declared that NATO’s raids on Yugoslavia are “unavoidable”, characterizing Belgrade’s policy as “criminal”. A.F. [07] HARVARD HOLDS EVENT ON LITERARY INSPIRATION FROM GREECEBoston, April 16 (MPA)The tradition of Hellenism, as espoused by Lord Byron, Henry Miller and James Merrill, among others, will be the focus of an international conference scheduled to take place at Harvard University between April 16-17.Titled "The Spirit of Greece Inspires," the conference is aimed at promoting Greece as a country which inspires foreign writers. Divided into two sections, its first day deals with the relation between writers and mythical Greece, while the second day focuses on the relationship between journalists with the Greece of reality. A number of renowned authors will recite excerpts from their works, illustrating the inspiration they have derived from Greece, among them Italy’s Dario FO and Franca Rarne, Barry Unsworth from the United Kingdom, and Edmund Keeley, Patricia Stotace, Olga Broumas, Jeffrey Eurenides from the United States. The event is organized by Harvard University's Seferis Faculty, the Socrates Kokkalis program at Harvard's John F. Kennedy College and the literary magazines Harvard Review (Cambridge) and Mondo Greco (Boston). Sponsors include the Culture Ministry of Greece and the Socrates Kokkalis Foundation. A.F. [08] PM BRIEFS PRESIDENT ON LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN YUGOSLAVIAAthens, April 16 (MPA)The President of the Hellenic Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos met with the Prime Minister Kostas Simitis this morning, for an overview of the latest developments in Yugoslavia.Mr. Simitis stated that the Cabinet will review a Greek plan which is designed to motivate Europe into displaying a greater degree of mobility concening the Yugoslav crisis. The Premier also briefed the President on the European Union’s informal Summit, held on Wednesday, and stated that, through mutual effort and understanding, there is room to discover a solution. Furthermore, Mr. Simitis stressed that Greece intends to request a peace initiative from both the EU and NATO, suggesting plans of action for managing the crisis. A.F. [09] COHEN: “RAIDS COULD CONTINUE FOR MANY WEEKS, EVEN MONTHS”Washington, April 16 (MPA)U.S. Secretary of State William Cohen has stated that NATO’s raids against Yugoslavia could very well continue until the summer, speaking at the Senate’s Armed Services Committee. Gen. Hugh Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, denied that the deployment of ground troops is eminent but, when asked if the raids could continue for “many, many, many weeks or even months,” both he and Mr. Cohen, responded “yes.” “This is not going to be quick or easy or neat,” the Secretary of Defense said. A.F.[10] GREECE’S CULTURE MINISTER DEPARTS FOR UNITED STATES TODAYAthens, April 16 (MPA)Greece’s Minister of Culture Elizabeth Papazoi is departing for the United States today where she will attend the opening of the Greek wing at the Metropolitan Museum of New York, which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Kostas Simitis.Ms. Papazoi will be the guest speaker at Harvard’s lecture on “The values of Greek culture and their influence in the 21st century” which is held within the framework of the "The Spirit of Greece Inspires" event. On Sunday, the Culture Minister will attend an event held at the Museum of Cycladic Art in New York and will depart for Lauzanne, Switzerland, on Wednesday where she will visit the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee and will be received by IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch. A.F. [11] UNDESECRETARY OF ECONOMY TRAVELS TO SKOPJE ON MONDAYThessaloniki, April 16 (MPA)Greece’s Undersecretary of National Economy Alexandros Baltas is to travel to Skopje on Monday, where he and a delegation of Greek entrepreneurs will examine the prospects of purchasing FYROM ventures on preferential terms.FYROM’s market remains an attractive field for Greek investors, with indirect Greek ventures amounting to $70 million having already been established or being in the works. A.F. [12] OLYMPIC GAMES OF 2004 TO BRING OVER SIX MILLION TOURISTSThessaloniki, April 16 (MPA)Over six million foreign tourists are expected to visit Greece by the year 2011, enticed by the country’s extensive promotion through the Olympic Games of 2004, to be held in Athens. According to a study conducted on behalf of the Institute of Tourism Research and Forecasts, Greek tourism will reap the benefits of the Games for at least seven years to follow. Moreover, the study, to be officially presented next Tuesday in Athens, foresees that approximately 24,000 foreigners will visit Attica prior to the Games, with their number swelling to 87,000 during the course of the Olympics, not including an estimated 60,000 who are expected to visit the country independent of the Games, but motivated by the extensive campaign abroad. A.F.[13] BELGRADE WOULD ACCEPT OBSERVERS, BUT ONLY NON-NATOBelgrade, April 16 (MPA)Belgrade is willing to discuss the possibility of political observes in Kosovo, on the condition that the force would not comprise members from countries participating in the raids against Yugoslavia, according to the spokesperson of the Yugoslav Foreign Ministry, Neboisa Vujovic.Mr. Vujovic stressed that Yugoslavia is utterly opposed to the assignment of a Kosovo mission similar to OSCE’s verification force, which, he stated, “escaped Kosovo in order to pave the road for NATO’s air raids.” A.F. [14] COALITION PARTY LEADER APPEALS FOR AN END TO THE WARSkopje, April 16 (MPA)The leader of Greece’s Coalition of the Left and Progress party, Nikos Konstantopoulos, who is presently on a visit to Skopje, warned of the perils borne by the war in Yugoslavia as it endangers stability in the Balkans. Speaking to the Macedonian Press Agency, Mr. Konstantopoulos stated that “Yugoslavia is at the brink of dissolution and disaster, with all the other Balkan countries being in the destabilization plan.“This catastrophic war must end now. Each day that passes and as the war rages on, the invasion plan is expanded and intensified,” Mr. Konstantopoulos said, warning of the risks involved to the Balkan region’s stability. He blasted the European Union, saying that the Community is turning against its own self. “The European Union is essentially conducting a war against itself, a war against Europe... because it does not have a common foreign policy, it lacks the will to develop an autonomous political role and is content with playing the role of satellite to the United States.” Referring to the refugees, whom he had the opportunity to visit, the Coalition leader described their horrendous condition as a disgrace to humanity. Prior to returning to Thessaloniki tonight, Mr. Konstantopoulos will be received by the President of FYROM Kiro Gligorov, Premier Georgievski, Foreign Minister Dimitrov and political party leaders. A.F. Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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