Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 01-08-20

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

CONTENTS

[01] TSOHATZOPOULOS ASKS FOR REDEFINING OF GOVERNMENT POLICY

[02] OVER 3 MILLION SIGNATURES ON THE ID CARDS

[03] CHRISTODOULOS SATISFIED ON NUMBER OF SIGNATURES

[04] SLOW DAY AT THE ASE

[05] TSOHATZOPOULOS DISCOMFORT ABOUT FYROM

[06] PASOK CONGRESS WILL RUN SMOOTHLY

[07] D. TSOVOLAS: GOVERNMENT HAS SURRENDERED TO FOREIGN POWERS

[08] AUTUMN RHYTHM

[09] POLO WORLD CHAMPIONS

[01] TSOHATZOPOULOS ASKS FOR REDEFINING OF GOVERNMENT POLICY

His proposal for a change in policy to one more beneficial for the people analyzed Minister of Defense Akis Tsohatzopoulos, who spoke at a meeting of more than 100 Party friends in Posidi of Halkidiki.

The Minister gave special emphasis to the reconnection of PASOK with the social classes that usually support it, through the redefining its policy. He criticized economic policy and mentioned problems that are observed in the sectors of health, insurance and the everyday life of the citizen. He questioned the measures taken by the government on the matter of unemployment. Aims of the new policy should be prosperity for the citizens, social justice, coherence and solidarity. He also made mention of environmental issues both in Greece and world wide, but he avoided making any reference to issues related to his stance in the elections at the PASOK congress in October.

The Party staff members that spoke expressed their intense problem with the course PASOK and the government have taken, due to the unfavorable results of the poll, and stressed the need for the overcoming of this crisis and a victorious result at the upcoming parliamentary elections.

[02] OVER 3 MILLION SIGNATURES ON THE ID CARDS

Over 3.000.000 signatures were gathered on the issue of the identification cards, according to the Metropolite of Dimitriada, Ignatius.

As Mr. Ignatius stated to "Flash" radio, the Church, after the official announcement of the signatures are given on the 28th of August, will wait for a meeting with the Prime Minister Kostas Simitis, but hinted at an escalation of reactions in October.

[03] CHRISTODOULOS SATISFIED ON NUMBER OF SIGNATURES

The number of signatures gathered by the church on the request for a referendum on the issue of recording religion on ID cards, surpassed 3.000.000. This was mentioned by Archbishop Christodoulos on his visit to the convent Anatoli Agias in Larisa.

"I am very satisfied because it is no small thing to concentrate 3.000.000 signatures from all the people that belong to the political spectrum. None of these people were forced to come and sign and this has great and important value", said Mr. Christodoulos characteristically.

The Archbishop pointed out that until now the Church did not announce the number of signatures gathered so that they did not involve itself in political confrontations. "Everything we have done so far, we have done with a lot of prayer and a lot of attention because we do not want to disconfirm the hopes of our people, we do not want to seem thoughtless", he added.

[04] SLOW DAY AT THE ASE

The basic exchange index closed at below 2.700, at 2687,05,with losses of 0,23%. The volume of transaction came to 84,06 Euro, with 116 stocks recording profits, 186 recording losses and 72 remaining stable.

[05] TSOHATZOPOULOS DISCOMFORT ABOUT FYROM

Discomfort about the situation in FYROM was expressed by the Minister of Defense, Akis Tsohatzopoulos, speaking at 27th International Conference of Military History. The Minister stressed that if all weapons aren't surrendered by the guerrillas, a confrontation between the involved parties is inevitable. He also pointed out that there are misgivings by some NATO members, among which Greece, on the security of the conditions to abide by the agreement which was signed.

He also stressed that Greece is watching the situation closely and asked for other countries to support the peacekeeping procedures in any way possible. He added that no change in the borders should be made and that there should be respect for a peaceful solution and that European powers should only send peace keeping missions when international organizations have so agreed, or when the involved parties ask them to intervene.

Referring to Turkey, he stressed that Ankara's course towards the European Union will be judged by the ability of the neighboring country to harmonize itself with European standards so that its unilateral claims towards Greece are canceled and the 27 years of occupation in Cyprus end.

[06] PASOK CONGRESS WILL RUN SMOOTHLY

The vice-president of the parliament, Panagiotis Sgouridis, is optimistic on the smooth running of the PASOK congress in October. Mr. Sgouridis stressed that, "the congress will be on political lines and not a party expurgation", and at this point he called all those that have a different opinion to get off the "PASOK train". On the matter of the candidacy for President of the party, he underlined that there will be only one candidate, and this will be a drawback for Mr. Simitis, because under other circumstances his dominance would be impressed on the discussants.

[07] D. TSOVOLAS: GOVERNMENT HAS SURRENDERED TO FOREIGN POWERS

President of the Democratic Social Movement, Dimitris Tsovolas accuses the Greek Government for indirect but clear recognition of the State of Skopje, by the name "Macedonia", due to a peace agreement in FYROM.

"It is clear that the government has unconditionally surrendered to foreign greater powers and with the foreign policy it is following, it is placing our national interests in constant danger", he pointed out and asked for a change in policy.

The Foreign Secretary, Giorgos Papandreou, stated in an interview with "Crete TV" that the name of FYROM is still pending and answered the issue created from the signing of a peace treaty by the EU in the neighboring country:

"The signatures placed, especially that of Mr. Lester, have nothing to do with the issue of the name, first of all because it is an internal text between parties, and secondly because he signed as a witness and not as someone taking part in the agreement. I clarified this myself with a telephone call I made to Mr. Solana and the President of the EU, the Foreign Secretary of Belgium, Louis Michel, both of whom assured me that the European position will not change and confirmed it in writing in a statement they made immediately afterwards, where they used the international term 'FYROM', a term coined by the UN until a solution acceptable by both parties could be found".

The Foreign Secretary stated that there would be further discussions on the matter of the name, after peace and stability were restored to the neighboring country.

[08] AUTUMN RHYTHM

Political life of the country is moving to the Autumn rhythm, as the Prime Minister and the leader of the main opposition party have finished with their summer holidays and are preparing for their appearances at the 66th Thessaloniki International Fair in September.

Kostas Simitis has a meeting this morning with his close associates and at midday has a meeting with the secretary of PASOK's Central Committee, Kostas Skandalidis, with whom they will discuss the Central Committee's session which is scheduled for the 31st of August. Tomorrow afternoon, the Prime Minister will meet with a delegation of the Industries' Association of Northern Greece, in the presence of the Minister of National Economy, Giannos Papantoniou, the Minister of Macedonia-Thrace, Giorgos Paschalidis, on Wednesday the government's economic staff will meet, about the announcements to be made at the TIF, and on Thursday the Cabinet will come into session on Educational issues.

Kostas Karamanlis has meetings today with his associates in preparation of his visit to Thessaloniki, the mapping out of opposition tactics and the situation in the party. Tomorrow he will meet with a delegation of the Industries' Association of Northern Greece.

[09] POLO WORLD CHAMPIONS

The gold medal in the World Polo Championship held in Istanbul was won by the Greek Teenage National Team, who beat Croatia with a score of 8-7, and received the gold medal for the first time ever.

The coach of the team, Tasos Doumbas, attributed the success to a lot of work, effort and patience from all the members of the team.

A congratulatory telegram was sent by the president of the Democratic Social Movement, saying that they gave the greatest honor to Greece in the sport so far, in an international level, and raised the Greek flag to the highest stand.

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