Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 00-12-16

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

CONTENTS

[01] THE SUICIDES OF TEENAGERS ARE MAINLY DUE TO FAILURES IN SCHOOL

[02] STRATEGIC STUDIES INSTITUTE: BIG INCREASE IN THE MILITARY SPENDING IN

[03] Β' ΚΑΤΗΓΟΡΙΑ: ΛΕΩΝΙΔΙΟ ΚΑΙ ΠΙΕΡΙΚΟΣ ''ΧΑΜΟΓΕΛΑΣΑΝ''

[04] GREECE'S GEO-POLITICAL PLANNING SHOULD INCLUDE MEDITERRANEAN

[05] THE BALKANNET WILL BE IN OPERATION IN JANUARY

[06] THE GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER WILL VISIT TURKEY

[07] A GREEK COMPANY IS THE FAVORITE FOR THE BUYOUT OF THE MAKTELECOM

[08] TELEFONICA EXPRESSED INTEREST FOR PARTICIPATION IN OTE'S SHARE-CAPITAL

[09] THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ON THE PARTHENON MARBLES

[01] THE SUICIDES OF TEENAGERS ARE MAINLY DUE TO FAILURES IN SCHOOL

According to a research, 52.4% of the teenagers who want to put an end to their lives reach that point because of school failures that will have unpleasant effects on their relationship with their parents.

The marital problems between the parents and the love problems of the teenagers are far back on the list of the reasons that could lead to suicide with 19% and 14.3% respectively.

The pressures for good grades and a place at a university have become so intense that the number of suicides has increased by 150% in the 30year period 1960-1990.

The 16-19 age group presents the biggest tendency toward suicide (40%), while in the ages 12-15 the percentage is lower (29%). Also, it has been established that at the end of puberty the suicide tendencies are dramatically lower.

[02] STRATEGIC STUDIES INSTITUTE: BIG INCREASE IN THE MILITARY SPENDING IN TURKEY

The military spending in Turkey increased by 75% in the period 1989-1998. Specifically, in 1998 military spending reached US$8 billion compared to US$4.5 billion in 1989. Turkey is the only NATO member-state which had a big increase in its military spending, stated Mr. Nikolaos Liousis member of the Strategic Studies Institute, ISTAME, "Andreas Papandreou" foreign policy and defense department.

ISTAME president Yiannis Souladakis opened the conference that is being held in Thessaloniki and stressed that the city has the privilege to be at the center of the international interest which is focused on the region of south-eastern Europe.

Panos Grigoriou member of ISTAME's foreign policy and defense department presented the reasons that led to the publishing rapprochement of the 9 countries in the region. He said that the Balkan Observatory was established to cover the void that had been created as a result of the inadequate Greek bibliography and the absence of a Greek perspective in the rapprochement of the Balkans.

Thanasis Koumartzis, also a member of ISTAME's foreign policy and defense department, referred to the shrinking of the production systems in the south-eastern European countries, as well as the swelling of their debts to international economic organizations and the high degree of political instability.

ISTAME board of directors secretary Ms. Mary Bosi referred to the impressive rise of organized crime in the specific regions.

MPA general director Spiros Kouzinopoulos suggested the activation of the Balkan Observatory beyond publishing, pointing out that MPA will intensify its activities for the development of pluralism and democracy in south-eastern Europe and called on ISTAME to undertake joint actions.

[03] Β' ΚΑΤΗΓΟΡΙΑ: ΛΕΩΝΙΔΙΟ ΚΑΙ ΠΙΕΡΙΚΟΣ ''ΧΑΜΟΓΕΛΑΣΑΝ''

Το Λεωνίδιο και ο Πιερικός ''χαμογέλασαν'' στο πλαίσιο της 8ης αγωνιστικής για το πρωτάθλημα ποδοσφαίρου της Β' κατηγορίας, αφού κέρδισαν τη Νάουσα και τον Απόλλωνα Κρύας Βρύσης με 3-0 και 0-1 αντίστοιχα. Ετσι το Λεωνίδιο με 18 βαθμούς βρίσκεται στην πρώτη θέση με τον Εθνικό, ενώ ακολουθούν Πατραϊκός με 17, Μαρκό και Ατρόμητος με 16 βαθμούς.

[04] GREECE'S GEO-POLITICAL PLANNING SHOULD INCLUDE MEDITERRANEAN

The need to expand Greece's geo-political planning to include the wider Mediterranean region was pointed out by the speakers in the Strategic Studies Institute, ISTAME, conference on the Greek perspective in the European rapprochement in south-eastern Europe.

Minister of culture Evangelos Venizelos speaking in the conference that is being held in Thessaloniki underlined that 10 years after the breaking up of Yugoslavia the situation continues to be difficult, while the goals are still the same namely, peace, stability and respect of the existing borders. He also said that the new phenomenon is the creation of protectorates like Kosovo or Bosnia-Herzegovina. Mr. Venizelos expressed the view that were proven wrong all those who believed that the nation state is close to its end because of globalization and the role played by the regional organizations, underlining that the UN member-states have doubled in the past few years.

He said that the major problem for Greece is the creation of security conditions in the region which is a necessary pre-condition for the Greek economic and investment presence in the wider region.

From his side, the Cypriot Studies Center scientific director Konstantinos Gouliamos pointed out that the Balkans and eastern Mediterranean are a single geo-political macro-system where cooperation development and competition coexist. He stressed that the EU policy in eastern Mediterranean shows a deficit regarding the cohesion programs, the economic aid offered and the creation of security.

On the Cyprus issue, he said that Athens and Nicosia were unable to build a united strategy based on geo-political facts and expressed his opposition to the proposed solution of a two-zone, two-community federation underlining that it favors racism and violates the rights of the individual and civil rights. He also said that it leads to the breakup of the Cypriot Republic and at the same time it strengthens Ankara's strategic goal for a solution of the Cyprus problem based on the creation of a confederation. He also stated that the Cyprus issue was downgraded in the EU-Turkey partnership relation text.

[05] THE BALKANNET WILL BE IN OPERATION IN JANUARY

The electronic network BalkanNet established by the Greek state television, ET3 together with the Albanian, Bulgarian and FYROM state television stations will be in operation on January 10, 2001, while it is expected that by January 30, 2001 it will be expanded to include Romania, Moldavia, Turkey and Serbia.

The above were announced by ET3 general director Michalis Alexandridis speaking in the Balkan state radio and television organizations meeting organized in Thessaloniki by ET3.

The BalkanNet is an electronic network that will link television stations offering to them the opportunity to exchange news and audio-visual material, while in the future there will be additional services offered that will facilitate and support the inter-Balkan cooperation in the sector of radio and television.

Minister of Macedonia-Thrace Giorgos Paschalidis speaking in the conference stated that the networks which are formed in the Balkan states by the mass media can promote friendship and cooperation, viable peace and development.

[06] THE GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER WILL VISIT TURKEY

The hard stance adopted by Turkey created an impasse in the two-day summit of the NATO foreign ministers, who gathered to discuss the alliance relations with the European Union and the cooperation of the two organizations for the promotion of the European policy on defense and security.

The NATO foreign ministers did not agree on a joint statement because of Turkey's persistence in its positions concerning the issue of the European defense.

Ankara rejected all the compromise proposals and the issue will be discussed again in the next summit, stressed Greek foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou, who agreed with his Turkish counterpart Ismail Cem to have a new meeting on the occasion of Mr. Papandreou's two-day visit to Turkey scheduled to take place for this year's review.

[07] A GREEK COMPANY IS THE FAVORITE FOR THE BUYOUT OF THE MAKTELECOM

The Deutche Telecom, the American company SEEF, OPIC, the Greek Kosmo Telco and the Interamerican with MATAV are interested in MAKTELECOM, according to the Skopje magazine "KAPITAL".

The magazine report mentions that MAKTELECOM has received the offers from all the interested companies. According to analysts, MATAV is the most serious candidate as Deutche Telecom is the strategic investor in that company. Also, the Hungarian MATAV is based on German, American and Greek capital. The Greek companies Kosmo Telco and Interamerican participate in the MATAV consortium through the Kosmo Telco CA and the share company Demko.

[08] TELEFONICA EXPRESSED INTEREST FOR PARTICIPATION IN OTE'S SHARE-CAPITAL

The Spanish telecommunications organization TELEFONICA submitted a proposal for its participation in the share-capital of the Greek Telecommunications Organization, OTE, as the Greek government intends to privatize 15%-20% of the company.

A relevant report published on the Spanish newspaper ABC mentions that Greek prime minister Kostas Simitis stated yesterday that his government examines the proposal tabled by TELEFONICA as well as the proposal submitted by Italian TELECOM Italia which is also interested in OTE's share-capital.

[09] THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ON THE PARTHENON MARBLES

An article on the newspaper "The Wall Street Journal" refers to the new Museum at the Acropolis in Athens which is under construction, stressing that it will give a boost to Greece's demand for the return of the Parthenon Marbles to the country.

In the article it is pointed out that the 56 pieces of the Parthenon frieze and the 34 sculptures taken from the Acropolis, that today belong to the British state, are an integral part of the most important monument of classical times and they have to be exhibited as close to it as possible.

The report mentions that this is an argument that was scorned by London in spite of the wide British support to the demand for the return of the Marbles to Greece. However, it is stressed in the article, when the new Museum at the Acropolis opens the Greeks hope that it will be harder for the British to continue to refuse the return of the Parthenon marbles.

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