Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 00-03-24

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From: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.

CONTENTS

[01] THE 1821 WAR OF INDEPENDENCE IS CELEBRATED WITH THE NATIONAL HOLIDAY OF

[02] GAINS OF 0.74% IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE

[03] THE GREEK EU COMMISSIONER COMMENTED ON THE ISSUE OF UNEMPLOYMENT

[04] GREEK SAILORS ARE MISSING IN THE ATLANTIC

[05] A 10% GREEK PARTICIPATION IN THE EUROFIGHTER CONSORTIUM

[06] AN ALKO OPINION POLL SHOWS A CLOSE RACE

[07] PASOK IS LEADING IN TWO OPINION POLLS

[08] MR. SIMITIS CALLED FOR AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE BALKANS

[01] THE 1821 WAR OF INDEPENDENCE IS CELEBRATED WITH THE NATIONAL HOLIDAY OF MARCH 25

The 179th anniversary of the 1821 war of independence from the Ottoman Turks will be celebrated tomorrow with military and student parades across Greece.

Caretaker minister of justice Dimitrios Gourgourakis will represent the prime minister and the government in the anniversary celebrations that will take place in Thessaloniki.

[02] GAINS OF 0.74% IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE

The Athens Stock Exchange closed with gains of 0.74% at 4.685,17 points today, while the transactions reached 139 billion drachmas.

It appears that investors are waiting for new developments as it can be seen by the very small volume of transactions.

[03] THE GREEK EU COMMISSIONER COMMENTED ON THE ISSUE OF UNEMPLOYMENT

Greek EU Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou, responsible for employment issues, presented the initiatives undertaken by the European Commission aimed at dealing with unemployment in the 15 EU member-states, in an interview with the German newspaper "Hamburger Abendblatt".

The efforts of the European Commission for the long-term solution of the problem of unemployment start from the schools with an emphasis on the training of students in technology and computers.

Within this framework, every school in the EU will have access to the Internet by the end of 2001, while all the EU citizens will be able to train in the sector of computers and communications by 2005. Ms. Diamantopoulou stated that in a two-year period there will be a need for 1.6 million specialized personnel in this sector.

[04] GREEK SAILORS ARE MISSING IN THE ATLANTIC

The efforts continue by the Canadian rescue forces to trace the 19 sailors who have gone missing after their Greek-owned cargo ship "Linter" sank in the Atlantic Ocean.

Twelve sailors have been rescued so far and it is still unknown if among them is Greek captain Kosmas Pouliadis.

The cargo ship under a Panamanian flag was carrying 57.000 tons of salt from Alexandria, Egypt to the United States and sank last night, while sailing 360 miles north-east of the Bermudas.

[05] A 10% GREEK PARTICIPATION IN THE EUROFIGHTER CONSORTIUM

Greece has secured a 10% participation in the consortium that builds the EUROFIGHTER jets, according to a report on the French newspaper "Le Figaro".

Specifically, the French newspaper, citing statements made by a high ranking Greek official, mentioned that Greece had expressed interest in the purchase of 60 EUROFIGHTER jets and this way it won a 10% participation in the consortium.

In the same report it is mentioned that Greece, within the framework of a wider modernization program of its defense, has recently signed a deal for the purchase of 50 US F-16 jets, while it is in the process of signing another deal for the purchase of 15 Mirage 2000-5 jets.

[06] AN ALKO OPINION POLL SHOWS A CLOSE RACE

Another opinion poll conducted by the polling company ALKO on behalf of the Athens radio station "Alpha News 98.7" and the Athens television station "Alpha" shows that it will be a close race in the April 9 elections.

The governing socialist party of PASOK is leading by 0.2% with 34.7% followed by right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy with 34.5%, the Communist Party 5%, the Democratic Social Movement 4% and Coalition of the Left 3.8%. The undecided voters are 11.3%, while 4.5% will cast a blank ballot paper.

[07] PASOK IS LEADING IN TWO OPINION POLLS

The two last opinion polls before the April 9 elections conducted by the polling companies VPRC and OPINION on behalf of the Athens newspapers "TA NEA" and "Eleftherotypia" respectively confirm all the previous ones according to which, most of the voters favor governing socialist party of PASOK leader and prime minister Kostas Simitis for the post of the prime minister in stead of right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy leader Kostas Karamanlis. The majority of those questioned believe that the winner of the elections will be PASOK, while the popularity of Mr. Simitis continues to be high.

The latest opinion poll conducted by the VPRC on behalf of the Athens newspaper "TA NEA" shows that PASOK is leading the race by 1.2%, while the smaller political parties secure their representation in parliament. Based on the opinion poll conducted by the polling company OPINION on behalf of the Athens newspaper "Eleftherotypia", PASOK has a significant lead compared to New Democracy on the question which party will win in the elections and which one will govern the country better. One out of 6 have stated that the course of the stock market will affect his/her vote.

Specifically, the VPRC opinion poll shows that 38.5% will vote for PASOK compared to 37.3% that will vote in favor of New Democracy, followed by the Communist Party 10.2%, Coalition of the Left 4% and Democratic Social Movement also 4%. A 3.2% responded that they will vote for another party, 2.2% that they will cast a blank or spoilt ballot paper, while the undecided are 4.9%.

An overwhelming majority believes that PASOK is more able to deal with the big problems with the exception of crime and 51.2% believe that it will be the winner of the elections compared to 27% in favor of New Democracy.

Prime minister Simitis is most popular politician with 60.2% followed by Coalition of the Left leader Nikos Konstantopoulos 53.4%, Kostas Karamanlis 49.9% and Democratic Social Movement leader Dimitris Tsovolas 47.4%.

According to the opinion poll conducted by the OPINION polling company, 7 out of 10 voters stated that their vote will not be affected by the course of the stock market, while 1 out of 6 believes the opposite and this percentage is significant in such a close election race.

A 53.3% believes that PASOK will be the winner in the elections, while 27.6% are in favor of New Democracy. PASOK is regarded as more able to govern with 43.9% of the voters in favor, while 31.5% are in favor of New Democracy. Regarding the effect of the course of the stock market on the vote, 8.8% have stated that they will be affected by its course, while 70.8% have stated that they will not be affected at all.

[08] MR. SIMITIS CALLED FOR AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE BALKANS

The next steps necessary to deal with the unemployment in the European Union were discussed in the Lisbon EU Summit meeting that was completed at noon today, while Greek prime minister Kostas Simitis called for an international conference on the Balkans to be held under the auspices of the UN.

The intentional conference will confirm the border status quo and the inviolability of the borders in the Balkans. Mr. Simitis' proposal was seen in a positive way by the EU member-states, while the Portuguese EU presidency promised to bring the proposal for discussion in the informal foreign ministers council meeting that will be held in the Azores in May.

Meanwhile, in their text of conclusions the EU leaders included the EU stance toward Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic. Specifically, it is mentioned that the selective sanctions against Belgrade are a necessary element of the EU policy for as long as Milosevic is in power, while Montenegro is excluded from the sanctions and it will receive economic assistance by the EU.

The 15 EU leaders pledged to set the growth rate at 3% in the next five year period, cut unemployment to 4% by the year 2010 and reduce absolute poverty from 18% it is today to 10%.

The European Council also gave a big emphasis to the development of know-how and decided to extend the electronic trade regulations.

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