Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 01-01-23

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

CONTENTS

[01] NO DU AT GREEK MILITARY INSTALLATIONS IN KOSOVO

[02] GREEK PRESIDENT VISITS ITALY AND THE VATICAN

[03] GREECES EU COMMISSIONER: APPLY GENDER EQUALITY

[04] ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY GREEK SOLDIERS LEFT FOR KOSOVO

[05] CONFERENCE OF THE GREEK COMMUNITIES' FEDERATION IN BELGIUM

[06] GEOGRAPHIKA - THE TURKS REDISCOVER GREECE

[07] WOMEN OF TURKISH ORIGIN FROM GERMANY WILL ATTEND A SEMINAR IN ATHENS

[08] NEW LOSSES IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE

[09] SEAN CONNERY VISITED THE CYCLADIC ART MUSEUM

[10] THESSALONIKI POLICE BUST STOLEN LUXURY CAR RING

[11] FERRY BOAT RAMS TWO FISHING BOATS, NO ONE HURT

[12] INTERIOR MINISTER CALLS FOR GENDER EQUALITY, NOW

[13] OMONIA'S GENERAL COUNCIL DISCUSSED THE PROBLEMS OF THE ETHNIC GREEK

[14] EXHIBITION ON THE MINOAN CIVILIZATION IN KARLSRUHE

[01] NO DU AT GREEK MILITARY INSTALLATIONS IN KOSOVO

The five military installations in Kosovo housing Greek peacekeeping troops are free of radioactivity and other toxic materials, according to the results of recent samples taken by a delegation of officials from the Greek Atomic Energy Commission.

Also, vegetables and other produce from Balkan countries were found to be safe for consumption, after checks conducted by Greece's Atomic Energy Research Institute "Democritos".

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, produce imported to Greece from Yugoslavia, Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria and FYROM are being checked for traces of uranium 238 and other radioactive elements since the beginning of the year.

At the same time, 70 members of the Greek peacekeeping forces in Kosovo returned to Greece yesterday, following their expressed request to depart the region, and more are expected to follow.

A.F.

[02] GREEK PRESIDENT VISITS ITALY AND THE VATICAN

The President of the Hellenic Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos is embarking today on an official, four-day visit to Italy, at the invitation of his Italian counterpart Carlo Ciampi.

In addition to President Ciampi, with whom he will hold talks this afternoon, President Stephanopoulos will also meet with Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato for talks on bilateral and international issues, as well as the situation in the Balkans.

The President will be received by Pope John Paul at the Vatican tomorrow afternoon, the first visit ever to be made to the Vatican by a Greek president.

During his stay in Italy, President Stephanopoulos will be visiting Brindisi, Sternatia, Catania, Syracuse and Taormina.

A.F.

[03] GREECES EU COMMISSIONER: APPLY GENDER EQUALITY

Greece's European Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs Anna Diamantopoulou stressed the significance of enforcing gender equality regulations within the European Union, underlining that the pertinent rules "will remain a dead letter unless they are properly enforced on the ground."

Addressing yesterday's informal Council of Ministers meeting in Norrkoping, Sweden, Ms. Diamantopoulou challenged the 15 member-states to enforce rules on equal pay and conditions for men and women in Europe or to risk rendering these principles "a dead letter".

She also called upon governments to provide additional and improved child care facilities throughout Europe to help lift obstacles to women's entry or return to the labor market.

Lastly, she appealed to member states that they "gender-comb" their tax and social security systems in order to break down disincentives that discourage women from fully participating in the job market.

A.F.

[04] ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY GREEK SOLDIERS LEFT FOR KOSOVO

One hundred and twenty Greek soldiers departed for Kosovo from Thessaloniki today. Most of them were in Greece on leave and now they return to complete their term in the Greek peacekeeping force deployed in the region.

Meanwhile, 80 Greek soldiers returned yesterday to the Karatasos Army Camp in Thessaloniki after serving several months in Kosovo.

Meanwhile, according to the early radiation counts conducted by the Greek Atomic Energy Committee, radiation in Kosovo is within the acceptable levels. The final results concerning the total of samples taken will be made known in two or three weeks. Also, the results of the initial radiation counts conducted on vegetables and fruits as well as, other products from the regions of the former Yugoslavia, are not alarming.

[05] CONFERENCE OF THE GREEK COMMUNITIES' FEDERATION IN BELGIUM

Sixty representatives of seven Greek communities in Belgium took part in the 7th Conference of the Greek Communities' Federation that was held in Brussels on January 20-21.

The conference dealt with education issues, voting through the mail for the Greeks living abroad, the improvement of the Greek state television channel NET satellite program etc.

They also discussed the issue of unemployment and the problems faced by the Greek women immigrants and the elderly who need more care.

[06] GEOGRAPHIKA - THE TURKS REDISCOVER GREECE

A book under the title "Geographika - A Greece that is being rediscovered" was published in Turkey recently and according to its author Mehmet Ali Giokatsti, the goal is to learn about Greece and promote it with an emphasis on its history, geography and people.

He stressed that an attempt is being made to approach Greece in a new way and under a different perspective aimed at dispersing the prejudices the Turks had toward the country.

The book is made up of three entities and each one of them develops around the axis of religion.

[07] WOMEN OF TURKISH ORIGIN FROM GERMANY WILL ATTEND A SEMINAR IN ATHENS

Nineteen women of Turkish origin, representatives of the union "Association for a modern life" from the region of Bielefelt, Germany will be in Athens on Saturday accompanied by journalist Oral Calislar to attend a seminar that will take place on January 29 organized by the Andreas Papandreou Institute and the Friedrich Ebert Institute in cooperation with German Euro-deputy Mechtild Rothe.

The seminar will be held in Zappion Megaron Building and will be made up of two entities the first one on the contribution of women to peace and the rapprochement of the peoples and the second one, on social rights-women-immigrants.

[08] NEW LOSSES IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE

New losses were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index was down by 0.61% at 3.063,14 points, while the volume of transactions was small at 127.1 million Euro or 43.3 billion drachmas.

Of the stocks trading today, 177 had gains and 146 recorded losses, while the value of 52 stocks remained unchanged.

[09] SEAN CONNERY VISITED THE CYCLADIC ART MUSEUM

Famous actor Sean Connery, who is in Athens for the opening of his wife's painting exhibition, visited the Cycladic Art Museum this morning. The exhibition will take place at a gallery in Votanikos and will open this evening.

Yesterday, he visited the City Hall and was received by Athens mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos. Speaking to reporters, Sean Connery said that he came to Greece to support his wife's painting exhibition and expressed the wish to return soon for another visit. He also referred to his new movie in which he has the leading role and plays Socrates, the ancient Greek philosopher.

Mr. Connery and his wife will stay in Athens until Thursday.

[10] THESSALONIKI POLICE BUST STOLEN LUXURY CAR RING

Thessaloniki police have busted an international stolen luxury car ring, whose members included Greeks, Bulgarians and Arabs.

The police's crimes against ownership squad arrested 49-year-old Harissis Dirmikis after spotting him on the Thessaloniki-Athens national highway driving a Jeep stolen a month and a half ago in Italy.

His cohort, 52-year-old Thessaloniki resident Andreas Hatziioannou, was arrested shortly afterwards as he was driving a stolen BMW, while 39-year-old Evros resident Bashar Medhi-Alttai was arrested later and charged with receiving the "hot" cars and reselling them in Bulgaria.

All three are believed to have conspired with other individuals in the Middle East and sold a number of cars in Syria.

The suspects were taken before a public prosecutor and were released under restrictive terms.

A.F.

[11] FERRY BOAT RAMS TWO FISHING BOATS, NO ONE HURT

A car/passenger ferry rammed and sank two fishing boats anchored at the port of Kalymnos, this morning, as it was trying to set sail for the island of Kos.

All 132 passengers of the "Rhodos" ferry are safe and no damage was caused to the vehicles on board. There were no crew aboard the fishing boats at the time of the accident.

After undergoing inspection, the ferry set sail for its itinerary.

A.F.

[12] INTERIOR MINISTER CALLS FOR GENDER EQUALITY, NOW

Immediate steps should be taken to advance European Union policies on matters concerning gender equality and social security issues, according to Minister of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization Vasso Papandreou.

Ms. Papandreou, addressing her EU colleagues during yesterday's informal Council of Ministers meeting in Norrkoping, stressed the need to adapt the educational system and career orientation in order to enable women to seek jobs requiring high professional specialization.

She also proposed a revision of social security systems to take into account the fragmentation of women's employment (due to maternity, motherhood, etc.), and measures to help women increase their time on the job market.

Stressing the need for men to become involved in raising a couple's children, Ms. Papandreou also proposed an increase in social benefits as well as mandatory use of parental leave by both parents.

About 40 EU ministers for gender equality and social security attended the informal meeting, which was also the first to which all the EU candidate countries were invited.

The meeting was also attended by Greece's deputy labor minister Christos Protopappas and Greece's European Commissioner for employment and social affairs Anna Diamantopoulou.

A.F.

[13] OMONIA'S GENERAL COUNCIL DISCUSSED THE PROBLEMS OF THE ETHNIC GREEK MINORITY IN ALBANIA

The problems faced by the ethnic Greek minority in Albania were discussed in the general council meeting of the ethnic Greek minority organization "Omonia" that was held in Tirana last Saturday.

As it was stressed in the general council meeting, the minority organization in the next three months will have to face the challenge of the general population census in Albania. Hypothetically, this will be the first population census that will take place under conditions that allow for the free expression of the people's ethnic identity and a special care must be displayed as the government refuses to include a question on ethnic identity in the questionnaire that will be presented.

The general council of "Omonia" also discussed the proposal for the redistribution of the electoral districts in June's parliamentary elections.

[14] EXHIBITION ON THE MINOAN CIVILIZATION IN KARLSRUHE

An exhibition titled Minoa's Labyrinth and dedicated to the Minoan Civilization in ancient Crete will be hosted at the National Museum of Karlsruhe, Germany on January 27-April 29. Within the framework of the exhibition will be presented 400 Minoan civilization archaeological findings.

The German magazine Der Spiegel mentions that according to archaeologists, the labyrinth where the Minotaur lived exists in reality and it is the Knossos Palace, the center of Minoan Civilization.

The labyrinth was brought to light by British archaeologist Arthur Evans in 1900 and the visitors of the exhibition, that covers a space of 1.500 square meters, will have the opportunity to admire a model of part of the ancient palace. The model was created with the assistance of the National Museum of the federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.

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