Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 00-10-04

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

CONTENTS

[01] SIMITIS-PAPOUTSIS DISCUSS NEW SHIPPING MEASURES

[02] "SAMINA" CAPTAIN AND SHIP MATE IN CUSTODY

[03] 2ND GREEK-TURKISH BUSINESS CONFERENCE NEXT MONTH

[04] GREEK CANDIDATES IN THE MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS IN BELGIUM

[05] ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH VARTHOLOMEOS WILL BE IN GREECE ON OCTOBER 17-25

[06] KENTERIS' T-SHIRT OFFERED TO CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

[07] EXPLANATIONS GIVEN BY REPPAS ON RONTOS' MISSION TO YUGOSLAVIA

[08] LOSSES OF 1.69% IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE

[09] SAE-EUROPE CONFERENCE IN FRANKFURT

[10] THE FAIR COMPETITION COMMITTEE REQUESTED DETAILS ON THE BUYOUT OF SHIPS

[11] PRIME MINISTER SIMITIS LAUNCHED A STRONG ATTACK ON OPPOSITION NEW

[12] VOTE RIGGING TARGETING "OMONIA" IN THE ALBANIAN ELECTIONS

[13] FISHERMEN BLOCKED PORTS IN GREECE

[14] A US CONGRESS COMMITTEE RESOLUTION RECOGNIZES THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

[01] SIMITIS-PAPOUTSIS DISCUSS NEW SHIPPING MEASURES

New measures in Greek shipping, such as the reduction in the years of operation allowed for passenger vessels and the early liberalisation of the Greek sea transport market, were discussed in the meeting held by the country's Prime Minister, Costas Simitis with the Commercial Shipping minister Christos Papoutsis and with former Shipping minister Christos Soumakis.

It was also decided that swift action should be taken to discover who was responsible for the tragic "Express Samina" shipwreck and to impose an appropriate punishment accordingly.

Greek Commercial Shipping minister Christos Papoutsis submitted a new document for liberalising the Greek sea transport market, in preparation for the meeting due to be held by the ministerial council tomorrow. Mr Papoutsis also commented on the modernisation of sea-faring vessels, the level of safety within shipping and the environmental protection of the sea.

[02] "SAMINA" CAPTAIN AND SHIP MATE IN CUSTODY

The captain of the shipwrecked "Express Samina", Vasilis Yiannakis and his deputy Anastasios Psychogios have been remanded in custody on the island of Chios, following the testimonies made before the courts.

Panagiotis Kazaklis, who had been at the ship's helm at the time of the tragedy was let go conditionally, following a bail charge of one million drachmas.

The president, managing director and general director of Minoan Lines are due to testify before a court in Syros today.

[03] 2ND GREEK-TURKISH BUSINESS CONFERENCE NEXT MONTH

The second Greek-Turkish Business Cooperation conference will be held in Athens on the 2nd and 3rd November, with the aim of discussing the European Union, Greece, Turkey and potential developments both financially and as far as business cooperation between the two countries is concerned.

The conference will also be a springboard for matters relating to various areas of cooperation with Turkish enterprises and press interviews will be given by the Greek and Turkish presidents of the Greek-Turkish Business Cooperation Council, Panagiotis Koutsikos and Sarik Tara respectively.

Selected Greek and Turkish speakers will participate in the conference. Amongst those representing Greece will be Greek Development minister Nikos Christodoulakis, Foreign minister George Papandreou and the Greek EU Commissioner on Social Issues, Anna Diamantopoulou. Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz will represent Turkey at the conference.

[04] GREEK CANDIDATES IN THE MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS IN BELGIUM

The presence of the Greek candidates in the municipal elections in Belgium that will be held on October 8 is notable. Over 20 Greeks, among them 26yearold Dimitris Pechlivanidis former president of the Council of Hellenes Abroad, SAE, world coordinating committee for the Young, will run for town councillors in 11 municipalities.

It is the first time that citizens with double nationality or foreign nationals have the right to vote or be election candidates according to the EU regulations.

[05] ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH VARTHOLOMEOS WILL BE IN GREECE ON OCTOBER 17-25

Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos will be on an unofficial visit to Greece on October 17-25, as it was announced today after the Greek Church's Holy Synod meeting in Athens. The Ecumenical Patriarch will be in Athens for the inauguration of the Patriarchate's office in the Greek capital.

Holy Synod spokesman Metropolite Efstathios of Sparta referred to the signature collection procedure with the demand for a referendum to be held on the issue of the listing of the bearer's religion on the new state-issued identity cards.

According to the available figures, the number of signatures already gathered are estimated at 1 million.

[06] KENTERIS' T-SHIRT OFFERED TO CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

Greece's Kostas Kenteris proved that he is not only a great athlete but a great human being as well. The Olympic gold medallist decided to put up for auction the T-shirt he was wearing when he competed in the men's 200m finals in the Sydney Olympic Games and the highest bid will go to an institution for children with special needs.

The institution is under the supervision of the Olympic Committee and the auction will be held on the Internet. He said characteristically that after the race he thought that he should do something for the children with problems. Kenteris said that the institution contacted him and he decided to offer the T-shirt he was wearing in the golden 200m race.

[07] EXPLANATIONS GIVEN BY REPPAS ON RONTOS' MISSION TO YUGOSLAVIA

Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas stated that Alexandros Rontos, one of the advisers of foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou, is in Belgrade not for personal reasons but in order to be used by the Greek foreign ministry because he has significant experience.

Mr. Reppas stated that Greece has undertaken initiatives aimed at overcoming the crisis in Yugoslavia and Mr. Rontos is in contact with all parties in the country. Greece's efforts have been recognized by all the political forces in the international community and Yugoslavia and the doors must be kept open, stated Mr. Reppas.

[08] LOSSES OF 1.69% IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE

Losses of 1.69% were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange and the general index dropped to 4.010,83 points, while the volume of transactions was very disappointing at 57 billion drachmas.

Of the stocks trading today, 39 recorded gains, 309 had losses and 24 remained stable.

[09] SAE-EUROPE CONFERENCE IN FRANKFURT

The presiding boards of the Council of Hellenes Abroad, SAE-Europe federations and agencies will meet in Frankfurt on October 13-15. According to SAE-Europe president Angelos Aslanidis, SAE-Europe seeks through this meeting to draw-up its future policy, strategy and tactic.

The goals of the meeting will be the briefing of the different agencies on the SAE-Europe activities so far and the operation of the new organizational structures for the Greeks living abroad, the holding of discussions on the concerns and problems faced by the Greeks abroad, the exploitation of the Greeks elected to local administration agencies in European countries, the financial backing of the Aid Fund for the Greeks living in Europe and ways to assist the suffering Greeks in the former Eastern Block countries.

[10] THE FAIR COMPETITION COMMITTEE REQUESTED DETAILS ON THE BUYOUT OF SHIPS

The ministry of development fair competition committee had requested information on the buyout of ships conducted by the Minoan Sea Lines since February.

According to a statement issued by the committee, it was examining whether the law on fair competition was violated and if there is a monopoly situation in the Greek coastal shipping.

The Minoan Sea Lines referred the committee to the Minoan Flying Dolphins which denied that its acts or deals were in violation of the law on fair competition.

The committee has the files of the two companies with the buyouts they have made since July and in cooperation with the merchant marine ministry will proceed with the evaluation of the two companies before issuing a decision.

[11] PRIME MINISTER SIMITIS LAUNCHED A STRONG ATTACK ON OPPOSITION NEW DEMOCRACY

Prime minister Kostas Simitis in his speech today before the parliamentary group of the governing socialist party of PASOK launched a strong attack on main opposition party of New Democracy.

The parliamentary inquiry committees proposed by New Democracy to examine the causes of the "Samina" shipwreck and the corruption allegations will influence the judiciary and will be part of the impression-creating games that are being played, stated the prime minister.

He also underlined the serious risk of creating a climate of rejection toward the country's political world from which no one will be excluded, neither the government nor the opposition, adding that in such a case democracy will be the loser while the fascist attitude will be the winner.

The prime minister stressed that light will be shed on the causes of the tragic accident and later in the week the minister of justice will submit law amendments to prevent such an accident from happening again.

Mr. Simitis recognized that the developments in the international economy are unfavorable and stated that there should be no panic in Greece, while people should not believe that Greece will be affected more than other countries.

On the problem of unemployment, he referred to the government proposals aimed at increasing the job positions and adopting the 38-hour working week.

Regarding the foreign policy issues, Mr. Simitis stated that the Helsinki decisions are the framework guaranteeing the natural course of Turkey's rapprochement with the European Union. On Cyprus, he said, that the Greek government backs a two-zone, two-community single sovereignty Cyprus, adding that the confederation solution is not backed by the Cypriot or the Greek government.

[12] VOTE RIGGING TARGETING "OMONIA" IN THE ALBANIAN ELECTIONS

"Omonia" ethnic Greek minority organization president Mr. Doulis made accusations of vote rigging that was aimed against the organization's candidates in last Sunday's municipal elections in a letter addressed to Albanian prime minister Ilir Meta and the US and OSCE ambassadors in Albania.

According to the Athens newspaper "Kathimerini", Mr. Doulis does not recognize the election results in the region of Himara and calls for new elections.

[13] FISHERMEN BLOCKED PORTS IN GREECE

The Greek fishermen have blocked many of the country's ports protesting against the high fuel prices and the European community directive that forbids them to fish within a 2-mile distance from the coasts.

The fishing boats have already blocked the ports of Kavala, Chios and Patras and the commercial sectors of the ports of Thessaloniki and Piraeus.

[14] A US CONGRESS COMMITTEE RESOLUTION RECOGNIZES THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

A US Congress committee approved a resolution recognizing as genocide the persecutions and murders of hundreds of thousands of Armenians in Turkey in 1915.

The resolution of the US House of Representatives International Relations Committee is not binding but it caused the strong reaction of Ankara as well as criticism on behalf of the Clinton government which maintains that the issue should concern the historians and not the politicians.

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