Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 00-10-25

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

CONTENTS

[01] GREEK PM ATTENDS S.E. EUROPE SUMMIT IN FYROM

[02] THE YOUNG GREEKS PREFER TO WATCH THE NEWS ON TELEVISION

[03] ACTING GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN: NATO'S LEGAL DEPARTMENT VINDICATES THE

[04] HITIRIS: A SIMITIS-ECEVIT MEETING IS NOT RULED OUT

[05] MARIA GEORGATOU IS IN NO HEALTH RISK

[06] MARGINAL LOSSES OF 0.15% IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE

[07] NATO VINDICATES GREECE CONCERNING THE AEGEAN

[08] PM-ARCHBISHOP ICE BROKEN AT PATRIARCHAL DINNER

[09] GREEK-TURKISH TOURISM ACCORD RATIFIED & SHELVED

[10] PRESIDENT IN THESSALONIKI FOR PATRON SAINT DAY

[11] STATE TO GREEK CONSUMERS: NO SUSPECT MEAT HERE

[12] SIMITIS-ECEVIT MEETING

[13] GOLD MEDAL FOR GREECE IN THE LONG JUMP F11 CATEGORY

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[01] GREEK PM ATTENDS S.E. EUROPE SUMMIT IN FYROM

Prime Minister Costas Simitis is to depart for FYROM today, where he will take part in the summit conference of of Southeastern Europe's state and government leaders.

The summit will feature the participation of Greece, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Albania and FYROM.

According to reports, Mr. Simitis is expected to promote a climate of investment that will facilitate relevant initiatives, while he will also stress that Greece is interested in FYROM's stability and regional security and that the country is opposed to any whatsoever effort to change the region's existing borders.

The conference is taking place three days prior to the local elections in Kosovo, which Yugoslavia's president-elect Voijslav Kostunica has already termed as "untimely and wrong" as, he said, LDK party leader Ibrahim Rugova is seeking national elections that will lead to Kosovo's independence.

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[02] THE YOUNG GREEKS PREFER TO WATCH THE NEWS ON TELEVISION

The young Greeks, 15-18 years old, prefer to watch the news on television but this does not mean that they do not read newspapers, according to a research by Dr. Sophia Aslanidou included in her book under the title "The myth of the passive viewer".

According to the research, 59.2% of the young Greeks read newspapers and 72.5% of them prefer the political newspapers.

However, 79.4% prefer to watch the news on television, 13.1% prefer the printed news and 7.5% the radio.

Most of them, 57.3% prefer television because it combines image and sound, 24% because they think it is more reliable and 7.6% because they believe that communication is more direct through the television.

[03] ACTING GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN: NATO'S LEGAL DEPARTMENT VINDICATES THE GREEK POSITIONS

NATO's legal department vindicated the Greek positions and Greece's stance and after the latest developments Turkey is exposed both by the statements it has made and its actions, underlined acting government spokesman and undersecretary of press Tilemachos Hitiris.

He also added that the Turkish allegations on the demilitarization of the airspace are invalid and reiterated that the withdrawal of the Greek forces from the NATO exercise "Destined Glory" was the right thing to do for Greece.

Mr. Hitiris said that Greece will raise the issue in NATO's international fora and stated that the Greek National Defense General Staff Chief will deliver the complete file on the exercise and the Greek positions to his counterparts, who will participate in the NATO states Armed Forces Chiefs Council meeting on November 9.

[04] HITIRIS: A SIMITIS-ECEVIT MEETING IS NOT RULED OUT

Undersecretary of press Tilemachos Hitiris, who is acting government spokesman, did not rule out the likelihood of a meeting between Greek prime minister Kostas Simitis and his Turkish counterpart Bulent Ecevit on the sidelines of the Balkan Summit meeting in Skopje.

Mr. Hitiris stated that there is no scheduled meeting between the two leaders but this likelihood is not ruled out. The undersecretary of press stated that Mr. Simitis will not request a meeting but if a meeting is requested by the Turkish prime minister then Mr. Simitis will decide what he will do.

[05] MARIA GEORGATOU IS IN NO HEALTH RISK

There is no health risk for Maria Georgatou. The 17yearold bronze Olympic medallist in the gymnastics team fell and hit her head during training. This morning she underwent surgery in Athens' General State Hospital where the doctors removed a haematoma from her head.

She is in the intensive care unit for precautionary reasons and according to the doctors, her post-surgery course is developing without problems.

[06] MARGINAL LOSSES OF 0.15% IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE

The Athens Stock Exchange had marginal losses of 0.15% today and the general index was at 3.749,08 points.

The volume of transactions was very small at 68.8 billion drachmas. The intense fluctuations, nervousness and the fact that the investors' purchasing interest focused on the blue chips were the characteristics of today's session. Of the stocks trading today 95 had gains, 255 recorded losses and 29 remained unchanged.

[07] NATO VINDICATES GREECE CONCERNING THE AEGEAN

A NATO document that was published today by the Athens newspaper "TA NEA" vindicates Greece's positions regarding the Turkish claims in the Aegean. Specifically, the NATO document has as follows:

"Concerning the flights over the Aegean islands during Exercise Destined Glory, the opinion of the Office of the Legal Adviser is the following.

The Treaty of Lausanne (1923) ordered the demilitarization of the certain islands in the Aegean. The treaty was followed by the Treaty of Montreaux (1936), which makes no mention of the demilitarization. Since the Montreaux Treaty expressly states in the Preamble that it replaces the Lausanne Treaty ( and not only some parts of it), our opinion is that the Lausanne Treaty is not in effect now, therefore the demilitarization clauses no longer apply.

Should the Lausanne Treaty apply, even in that case it is questionable whether it forbids overflights by military (State) aircraft. When defining the meaning of demilitarization, the treaty specifically does not mention such a ban even though it may only be so because the level of technical development did not make it necessary in 1923. The status of the island of Ikaria is covered by the Lausanne Treaty of Peace (1923), which is still in effect. This treaty does not order a complete demilitarization, just stipulates that, "No naval base and no fortification will be established in the said islands." (Art.13.1) This definitely does not mean that no military aircraft can fly over Ikaria. Greek and Turkish military aircraft are forbidden to fly over the territory of one another only.

In conclusion, our opinion is that there is no legal obstacle to the overflights in the concerned area during the exercise. This statement has been ratified by SHAPE Legal dept."

[08] PM-ARCHBISHOP ICE BROKEN AT PATRIARCHAL DINNER

The Archbishop of Athens and All of Greece Christodoulos and Prime Minister Costas Simitis met again last night at a formal dinner the latter hosted for the Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos in Athens, after a long period of silence created over the identification card issue, where the Church objects to the state's decision to omit the listing of religion from the cards.

Addressing his guests, Mr. Simitis stated that "at a time when real vision is often confused with false visions, an era that easily slides into demagoguery and the clamor of the mob concealing the spiritual essence of matters, the word of the Phanar inspires and spiritually elevates Orthodoxy."

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[09] GREEK-TURKISH TOURISM ACCORD RATIFIED & SHELVED

A Greek-Turkish cooperation accord pertaining to matters of tourism was ratified last night by the Hellenic Parliament's Cross-Party Committee on Production and Trade, but was subsequently shelved in light of the provocative behavior displayed recently by the neighboring country during NATO's military maneuver "Destined Glory".

The committee's members have requested that the Speaker of the House Apostolos Kaklamanis refrain from posting the said accord on the parliamentary agenda, until Turkey's clarifies it aims.

There are also reports that an additional eight G/T accords signed by the Greek and Turkish Foreign Ministers, George Papandreou and Ismael Cem, respectively, and pertaining to "low policy" affairs, are not to be ratified in the near future.

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[10] PRESIDENT IN THESSALONIKI FOR PATRON SAINT DAY

The President of the Hellenic Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos will arrive in Thessaloniki this evening to attend this week's festivities in Thessaloniki held in honor of the city's patron Saint Demetrius (October 26) and the anniversary of the city's liberation (October 28).

The holy icon of St. Demetrius will be carried in procession tomorrow, October 25, while a doxology will be performed on October 26, at the city's monumental St. Demetrius Church.

On the 28th of October, the President will lay a wreath at the 3rd Army Corps and will attend the military parade. The events will also be attended by the Minister of Defense Akis Tsochatzopoulos, who will represent the Premier, while the government will be represented by the Minister of Macedonia-Thrace George Paschalides.

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[11] STATE TO GREEK CONSUMERS: NO SUSPECT MEAT HERE

Greece has not imported any amount of French beef suspected of having been contaminated with the "mad cow" disease, according to the country's Undersecretary of Agriculture Fotis Hatzimihalis.

The announcement came one day after reports that over a ton of contaminated beef was pulled from the shelves of a supermarket in France and parts of the infected meat may have made it to the French seller's stores in Greece.

Yesterday, the Agriculture Ministry ordered the temporary confiscation of dozens of tons imported from France for distribution by the Carrefour, DIA and Marinopoulos supermarkets. The meat was released for distribution today, after the state received assurances from the French government and the European Union that the said beef is not part of the lot withdrawn in France for further health reviews.

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[12] SIMITIS-ECEVIT MEETING

Greek prime minister Kostas Simitis had a 10-minute meeting with his Turkish counterpart Bulent Ecevit during the luncheon that was given within the framework of the SE European leaders summit that is taking place in Skopje. The meeting was held in a friendly atmosphere.

Prime minister Simitis stated to his Turkish counterpart that Turkey's stance in the NATO exercise was negative. Mr. Ecevit responded that a new circle of a dialogue will be opened and the Greek prime minister responded that the Greek side has a clear stance, its positions are known and it remains firm on that.

[13] GOLD MEDAL FOR GREECE IN THE LONG JUMP F11 CATEGORY

The Greek successes continue in Sydney's Paralympic Games. It appears that today was a good day for the Greek champions who managed to win many medals. A third gold medal was won by Greece in today's events, this time in the men's long jump F11 category.

Greece's Thanasis Barakas with a 6.11m jump won the first place after a difficult competition. The silver went to Spain's Manuel Rodriguez with 6.09m and the bronze was won by China's Duan Li with 5.99m.

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