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Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English, 99-05-05Macedonian 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, May 5, 1999TITLES
NEWS IN DETAIL[01] DARKNESS FALLS ON BELGRADE AFTER BOMBS CAUSE POWER OUTAGEBelgrade, May 5 (MPA)Belgrade has once again been left devoid of electricity and water as of early this morning, when NATO aircraft bombarded a power plant near this city of two million residents. Meanwhile, Yugoslav forces are claiming that they’ve downed an allied aircraft in the city of Bina-Basta, near the Bosnia border. The Alliance’s spokesperson said that he has no knowledge of such incident having taken place.Moreover, according to a western military spokesperson, a U.S. Apache helicopter crashed during the course of a training flight, northwest of Tirana. A.F. [02] US PRESIDENT TO MEET WITH NATO CHIEF IN BRUSSELSBrussels, May 5 (MPA)United States President Bill Clinton is presently in Brussels, accompanied by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, in order to conduct talks with the NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana. The discussion is expected to center around the military operations against Yugoslavia.Following his meeting with Mr. Solana, President Clinton will travel to Germany where he will meet with U.S. troops, the three U.S. soldiers who were recently released from the Serb forces, Kosovo refugees and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. The U.S. President has stated that he is willing to examine every diplomatic venue for resolving the Kosovo crisis. A.F. [03] MAIN OPPOSITION LEADER TOURS PREFECTURE OF THESSALONIKIThessaloniki, May 5 (MPA)The leader of Greece’s main opposition party, New Democracy’s Costas Karamanlis is presently on the second leg of his two-day tour of the Prefecture of Thessaloniki, where he is conducting a series of visits to hospitals, local authorities and municipalities. A recently-conducted nationwide poll finds Mr. Karamanlis’ popularity on the rise as 46.1 percent of the respondents opted for the N.D. leader, thus giving him an edge over the Premier Costas Simitis, who amassed 33.9 percent in the popularity poll. A.F.[04] YUGOSLAV DELEGATION TO MEET WITH N. GREECE BUSINESSMENThessaloniki, May 5 (MPA)A delegation from the Economic Chamber of Yugoslavia is to arrive in Thessaloniki today for a meeting with businessmen from northern Greece, in order to review the damages suffered by the sector from the conflict in Kosovo. Among the subjects to be discussed will be the difficulties faced by Greek manufacturers and businessmen who are active in Yugoslavia. The participants will brief one another on the consequences of the war, not only borne on the Greek businesses active in the neighboring country, but in Northern Greece's tourism industry and exporting - transporting ventures. A.F.[05] UN, RUSSIA COOPERATE ON KOSOVO, SAYS KOFI ANNANUnited Nations, May 5 (MPA)U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has stated that Russia and the United Nations continue to cooperate in discovering a political settlement to the Kosovo situation, the Russian news agency Itar-Tass reported. Mr. Annan told reporters that during his talks with Russian President Boris Yeltsin and during his with Viktor Chernomyrdin, President Yeltsin's special envoy for the settlement of the Yugoslav crisis, it was agreed that his as-of-yet appointed representatives would directly cooperate with the Russian government on this issue.According to Mr. Annan, now, after numerous consultations with the parties involved in the settlement process, an agreement had been reached on some issues. Specifically, mutual understanding was reached on the need for the withdrawal of the Yugoslav troops and police units from Kosovo, on the return of refugees there, on respect for and protection of their rights and on the deployment of an international military contingent on the territory of the region. This is only "general understanding," however, and now it is necessary to decide in what way and on what terms those provisions will be put into effect, on which intensive consultations are going on, Mr. Annan clarified. Speaking about the withdrawal of Yugoslav troops from Kosovo, the U.N. Secretary-General said that many aspects of this problem are being presently discussed, including the problem of whether the Serb security forces should be withdrawn from Kosovo totally or partially. A.F. [06] U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS ENVOY: NATO DID MORAL DAMAGE TO ITSELFPrague, May 5 (MPA)By bombing Yugoslavia, NATO did considerable moral damage to itself. The airstrikes caused a mass exodus of the indigenous population from Kosovo, which "was a fatal mistake," U.N. special human rights envoy Jiri Dienstbier said in an interview with Czech radio, as has been reported by the Russian news agency Itar-Tass. "Concerning ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, it started after the airstrikes began," Jiri Dienstbier said, adding that the NATO airstrikes caused great damage to the Kosovo settlement process. A.F.[07] CROATIA REFUSES BELGRADE’S URGENT REQUEST FOR ELECTRICITYZagreb, May 5 (MPA)Croatia has refused Yugoslavia’s urgent request for electricity, the French news agency AFP reported, quoting state television reports. Zagreb told Belgrade that it supported NATO’s military operations against Yugoslavia and wanted to see a lasting solution to the crisis in Kosovo. Serbia was deprived of electricity for several hours earlier this week and this morning after NATO planes attacked power installations with special secret graphite bombs, causing massive short circuits. A.F.[08] CHERNOMYRDIN: MY OPTIMISM HAS GROWN AFTER TALKS IN U.S.Moscow, May 5 (MPA)Washington and Moscow have come to understand each other better in regards to Kosovo, the Russian President's special envoy for the settlement of the situation around Yugoslavia Viktor Chernomyrdin has stated. According to the Russian news agency Itar-Tass, Mr. Chernomyrdin commented on his talks with U.S. President Bill Clinton and Vice President Albert Gore and noted that "We really understand what is happening in Yugoslavia and what we need to do." The Russian envoy said that the positions and understandings which were discussed in Washington will also be discussed by the ministers of foreign affairs of the Group of Eight industrialized nations during their meeting tomorrow. "My optimism has grown after this trip to the United States," he stated. A.F.[09] U.S. SERVICEMAN THANKS SERB GUARD FOR DIGNIFIED TREATMENTBelgrade, May 3 (MPA)One of the three U.S. servicemen, released on Sunday after being held captive by Serb forces, has left a note of thanks to his guards at the Yugoslav Army General Staff. According to the Russian news agency Itar-Tass, Sgt. Chris Stone requested that they read the note after his departure from Yugoslavia.The note thanks the prison guards for treating him with dignity and respect and for giving him cigarettes. The Sergeant also said he was full of sympathy with the Serb people and that he will pray to God for peace and the end of this war. The US serviceman wrote the note in English, but signed in Serbian "Sincerely, Chris Stone," adding "Slobodan" which means free. A.F. [10] GREECE’S FORMER FOREIGN MINISTER TO MEET WITH MILOSEVICBelgrade, May 5 (MPA)Greece’s former foreign minister Karolos Papoulias is presently in Belgrade where he will be received by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.Mr. Papoulias will reportedly convey a message from the Greek government to the Yugoslav leader. A.F. [11] GREEK PREMIER TO MEET WITH PORTUGUESE, FYROM COUNTERPARTSThessaloniki, May 5 (MPA)Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis will receive his counterpart from Portugal in Thessaloniki on Saturday, with whom he will travel to the monastic community of Mt. Athos. Mr. Simitis will also meet with the Premier of FYROM, Ljubco Georgievski, both of whom will be guest speakers at a major Balkan economics conference to be held in Thessaloniki on May 10-11. The conference, an annual event held by the Federation of Northern Greek Industries (SBBE) will focus on the situation in the Balkans a decade after the deregulation of markets.Mr. Georgievski will be accompanied by FYROM’s Ministers of Economy, Development, Defense and Foreign Affairs. A.F. [12] PROTESTERS OBSTRUCT ENTRANCE OF NATO VEHICLES AT PORTThessaloniki, May 5 (MPA)Episodes erupted early this morning at Thessaloniki’s port, when a group of protesters obstructed the entrance of a NATO military vehicles convoy.The military trailers had arrived from Skopje in order to load and transport vehicles and supplies back to FYROM. Over 100 individuals gathered at the port at 1 a..m. and cordoned off the port’s Gate 11, the military trucks’ destination. After breaking the railings of Gate 14, some of the protesters managed to enter the port’s facilities and attempted to approach the warehouses where NATO military supplies are stored. Police intervened at that point, preventing the crowd from entering the warehouses and episodes erupted although no one was arrested. As a result of the melee, the trailers departed for the Sindos military camp of Thessaloniki. A.F. [13] DOWNED APACHE HELICOPTER’S PILOTS ARE DEAD, U.S. CONFIRMSTirana, May 5 (MPA)The U.S. military forces have confirmed the death of the two crew members of the Apache helicopter that crashed during the course of a training flight this morning near Tirana.This was the second Apache to have crashed on Albanian soil. The first incident occurred on April 26, although those pilots were rescued. A.F. [14] LOCAL MUNICIPALITY SENDS 18 TONS OF RELIEF AID TO YUGOSLAVIAThessaloniki, May 5 (MPA)Eighteen tons of humanitarian aid are to depart tomorrow for Yugoslavia’s war victims, gathered by the Solidarity Committee of Neapolis, a municipality in western Thessaloniki.The aid consists of pharmaceutical supplies and foodstuffs which will be distributed to Belgrade and Pancevo, within the framework of the mission organized by the Thessaloniki Prefecture Authorities’ Committee. A delegation of the Solidarity Committee will accompany the aid. A.F. [15] GREEK TOBACCO FACTORY INAUGURATED TODAY IN BULGARIASofia, May 5 (MPA)A tobacco processing factory, owned by Greece’s “Leaf Tobacco”, is to be inaugurated today in the Bulgarian city of Santaski, near the Greek border, by the vice-president of the Bulgarian government Alexander Bozkov, who is also the country’s Minister of Industry. “Leaf Tobacco” purchased the plant in August 1998 from the shareholder “Struma”, and has so far invested three million dollars, mostly in technical facilities. A.F.Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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