Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 01-03-06

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

CONTENTS

[01] PREMIERS OF GREECE AND FYROM HOLD PHONE TALKS

[02] THE CEM STATEMENTS OFFER BAD SERVICES TO TURKEY

[03] MESSAGE OF SUPPORT FROM SIMITIS TO HIS FYROM COUNTERPART

[04] THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE REGAINS ITS BALANCE

[05] GREECE WILL RAISE THE ISSUE OF THE PROTECTION OF MONUMENTS IN

[06] BASKETBALL PLAYER ZARKO PASPALJE SUFFERED A HEART ATTACK

[07] THE MAYOR OF ATHENS WILL ANNOUNCE THE NAME AND EMBLEM OF HIS PARTY

[08] GREEK FM ON LIGHTNING VISIT TO SKOPJE TODAY

[09] A GREEK COMPANY WILL BUYOUT PART OF THE LARGEST FYROM BAKERY INDUSTRY

[10] FREE TRADE ZONE BY GREECE AND BULGARIA IN SVILENGRAD

[11] VENIZELOS: THE NEXT NINE MONTHS ARE CRUCIAL

[01] PREMIERS OF GREECE AND FYROM HOLD PHONE TALKS

Prime Minister Costas Simitis held a telephone conversation with his counterpart from FYROM Ljubcho Georgievski last night, while Foreign Minister George Papandreou is traveling to Skopje today, within the framework of an international diplomatic initiative undertaken by Athens over the crisis fermenting at the FYROM-Kosovo border.

The Greek government is supportive of FYROM's territorial integrity and is in contact with Skopje, Washington, the Balkan countries and the European Union in an effort to contain the escalation of tension that could lead to a further destabilization in the region.

Government spokesperson Dimitris Reppas has condemned the armed activities of Albanian extremists, while Mr. Papandreou is in contact with US Secretary of State Colin Powell.

At the same time, Greece's Defense Minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos stated that the present situation at the FYROM-Kosovo border is dangerous and called on the United Nations Security Council to convene.

Greece's General Army Staff is in constant contact with the operation room of the Greek force in Kosovo. The 34th Greek control company, at the border between Kosovo and FYROM is on the alert, having the control of the Skopje-Blatse-Belgrade road, which has been shut down.

Yesterday, the President of FYROM convened an extraordinary meeting of the National Security Council, featuring the participation of NATO ambassadors, as well as representatives of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the EU.

Following the talks, the Foreign Ministry of FYROM announced that it would close down all passages at the border with Kosovo and called for an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council and the creation of a security zone between Kosovo and FYROM.

From Tirana, the Albanian government denounced the recent violent incidents and called on the Albanians to stop attacks.

A.F.

[02] THE CEM STATEMENTS OFFER BAD SERVICES TO TURKEY

The statements made by Turkish foreign minister Ismail Cem offer bad services to Turkey, stated Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas when he was asked to comment on the statements made by the Turkish foreign minister according to which, Cyprus' likely EU accession will create a new incident.

Mr. Reppas added that the stance of the international community is known regarding Cyprus' EU accession course and the solution of the Cyprus problem.

[03] MESSAGE OF SUPPORT FROM SIMITIS TO HIS FYROM COUNTERPART

Greek foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou, who is on an urgent visit to Skopje, FYROM, conveyed a message of support from prime minister Kostas Simitis to his FYROM counterpart.

Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas stated that Greece is ready to contribute to the strengthening of stability in the region within the framework of the international community.

Mr. Reppas stated that the position shared by the international community is that the KFOR, which has been deployed in the region during the crisis in Yugoslavia, must coordinate its efforts to put under control the situation at the Kosovo-FYROM borders in order to be able to face any effort made by the autonomous groups that can create a risk of fluidity and volatility in the region.

The Greek foreign minister will have meetings with FYROM president Boris Trajkovski, prime minister Ljupco Georgievski and opposition party leader Branko Cervenkovski.

[04] THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE REGAINS ITS BALANCE

Gains were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index rose to 0.31% at 3.182,34 points, while the volume of transactions was satisfactory at 216.16 million Euro or 73.65 billion drachmas.

Of the stocks trading today, 220 recorded gains and 119 had losses, while the value of 31 stocks remained stable.

[05] GREECE WILL RAISE THE ISSUE OF THE PROTECTION OF MONUMENTS IN AFGHANISTAN

Greece is willing to undertake initiatives and ready to offer its services for the preservation of the cultural treasures in Afghanistan, stated Greek culture minister Evangelos Venizelos, while at the same time, he announced that the Greek delegation will raise the issue in the UNESCO Committee conference for the protection of cultural heritage that is being held in Cambodia.

Mr. Venizelos pointed out that a large Greek delegation attends the UNESCO conference in Cambodia because one of the issues discussed in every conference held by the organization is the return of the Parthenon Marbles.

[06] BASKETBALL PLAYER ZARKO PASPALJE SUFFERED A HEART ATTACK

Basketball player Zarko Paspalje suffered a heart attack last night while playing football with his friends in an Athens suburb. According to the medical statement that was issued, Paspalje is out of danger and will remain in intensive care for the next four days, while in eight days he will be able to return to his home.

The 34yearold Yugoslav is in contact with the environment and according to his doctors, he requested to be allowed to read newspapers and watch television in order to see for himself in what way his health problem is being presented by the mass media.

[07] THE MAYOR OF ATHENS WILL ANNOUNCE THE NAME AND EMBLEM OF HIS PARTY

Athens mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos is expected to announce this evening the name and emblem of the political party he will found.

According to press information, the announcement will be made this evening. The next steps for Mr. Avramopoulos will be to present the party's founding declaration and positions and hold the founding conference.

[08] GREEK FM ON LIGHTNING VISIT TO SKOPJE TODAY

Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou cut short his scheduled three-day visit to Vienna and will travel to Skopje today in order to convey the Greek government's concern over the crisis in the region.

The latest developments in FYROm were also the focus of holds Mr. Papandreou held with his Austrian counterpart Benita-Maria Ferrero-Waldner and Austrian President Thomas Klestil.

Balkan leaders as well as NATO, EU and OECD member-states have categorically warned that they will not allow a proliferation of violence, whereas any problems should be resolved through peaceful means, Mr. Papandreou stressed.

He also pointed to what he called the increasing polarisation between the Slavic-speaking and Albanian-speaking residents of FYROM and southern Serbia, stressing that this type of polarisation aims at destabilizing the entire region.

During his talks with his Austrian counterpart, Mr. Papandreou discussed the undertaking of a trilateral initiative with Italy for dealing with crises in the region.

They also discussed the Cyprus issue and the future accession of Cyprus to the European Union, Greek-Turkish relations, the EU's enlargement and institutional reforms and cooperation between the two countries in international organizations.

A.F.

[09] A GREEK COMPANY WILL BUYOUT PART OF THE LARGEST FYROM BAKERY INDUSTRY

The name of the Greek company that will purchase part of "Zito Lux", the largest FYROM bakery industry which is based in Skopje, will be announced on March 15.

Its director Aleksandar Simevski stated yesterday that the Greek company and the European Bank of Development and Reconstruction will purchase 51% of the stocks, stating that this way the privatization of "Zito Lux" will be completed.

In the final phase of the privatization, a total of 800 employees will be laid-off after receiving 24 salaries as compensation.

The share that will belong to the Greek company has not been announced yet but according to unofficial information in Skopje, it will purchase 31% of the bakery industry while the European Bank will have 20%.

[10] FREE TRADE ZONE BY GREECE AND BULGARIA IN SVILENGRAD

The creation of a free trade zone between Greece and Bulgaria at the border town of Svilengrad, Bulgaria is in the process of materialization, according to a statement issued by Trigono local community president Ioannis Gramenidis.

As it was announced, the Greek government will offer the sum of 1 billion drachmas for the purchase of a piece of land near the Bulgarian borders within the framework of the materialization of this idea.

Meanwhile, according to local officials in the municipality of Svilengrad, Greek businessmen have already reached an agreement with Bulgarian cotton producers for the purchase of their product and its processing in the free trade zone.

[11] VENIZELOS: THE NEXT NINE MONTHS ARE CRUCIAL

The next nine months will be crucial for the Olympic Games projects as the procedures leading to the construction of many of them are being completed on a daily basis, stated culture minister Evangelos Venizelos in a press conference he gave in Brussels yesterday on the occasion of a two-day conference on the "Sustainable Olympic Games"

Mr. Venizelos stated that there is no technical problem for any of the projects and added that the problems are legal, ecological and archaeological and they have been faced with great care and effectiveness.

The Greek culture minister also pointed out that the speech delivered during the conference by International Olympic Committee (IOC) vice-president Jacques Rogge showed the IOC's great interest in the success of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

Referring to the European volunteers, who will participate in the 2004 Olympiad, he said that they will be 50.000-60.000 while according to the latest estimates, the foreign journalists, who will cover the events, will be about 20.000.

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